Strange Existence
by Dragon's Lover1
Summary: Rating for language, themes, and general adult stuff. Takes place one year after Jak X. Kleiver finds himself something odd out in the wasteland he promptly delivers to Jak. Jak, on the other hand, can't believe what was given. This is 'her' story. . .
1. I Found Something

**Disclaimer:**_Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ Please oh please don't think I'm lying.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_One: I Found Something_

For someone as large as him, Kleiver could walk pretty lightly. Jak had to wonder about that as he noticed the bigger man heading his way. It was odd enough to see Kleiver these days, but even odder was that Kleiver had come to _him._ That usually meant a challenge of some sort; certainly his track record proved he couldn't win against Jak, so why he came back at all was a mystery.

Especially since Kleiver had sauntered in his and Keira's garage, like the way the owner of the building would. There wasn't a knock, no warning whatsoever. Jak figured now would be a good time to install some kind of security device to blast intruders like Kleiver.

Jak, Daxter, Keira, Ashelin and Tess were here now, Daxter telling Tess lies about adventures, Ashelin and Keira working on one of the gadgets Keira recently put together. Jak was the only one who felt a bit useless, given all he could do at the moment was lounge.

He'd love to have a date with Keira like Daxter and Tess were, but at the moment, Keira was keeping him at arm's length. Being after dark, it was too late to go out in the desert and hunt for artifacts or metalheads, and he didn't feel like sitting alone at his house. Even so, he'd rather be bored at home than here, glaring at Klever.

"Hello, mate," Kleiver greeted roughly.

"Hey," Jak returned, not letting his glare up.

"I found somethin' out in the desert ye might want," he offered.

Jak narrowed his eyes further. "A piece of junk?" he guessed, knowing better than to believe it was a gift.

"Nah," Kleiver laughed. It wasn't until he held out his arms that Jak noticed he'd been holding something, given his girth it was easy to hide even larger items. Now he was holding out -- surprisingly -- a girl by the waist. A naked girl, at that.

Kleiver found a little nude girl in the desert? Everyone was looking now, even as she girl blinked at them confusedly. Jak himself was in the process of standing when something more shocking that seeing a girl in Kleiver's huge hands happened -- it became visible that this girl had a _tail._

And by looking at her tail, one by one, they all noted her feet were pointedly like an ottsel's. At first, Jak had taken her for just a little girl, with pink hair and big eyes. But now he didn't have any idea what to think about her. He didn't imagine there could be such a thing as a half-human half-ottsel, yet here was proof, looking him in the eye.

Then Kleiver set her down and she immediately darted under a low table. Her run was like an animal's, on hands and feet, tail bobbing behind her with every lope. She curled up tightly under that table, looking around with frightened eyes.

"Kleiver --" Jak started, unsure what he wanted to say.

"In the desert?" Keira asked, stunned.

Tess hopped off the couch and crouched low to see the girl. "What is she?"

Kleiver chuckled. "I have no idea, But she's yours now."

"Wait -- what?!" Jak snapped, even as Kleiver turned to leave.

He waved behind him, laughing as though he'd just delivered Armageddon to deserving people.

Silence reigned for a long moment before Tess made the first move, getting closer to the girl who was barely bigger than Tess herself.

"Hello," Tess started, waving at her. "You don't need to be afraid."

The girl had eyes on Tess now, one blue and one violet. She didn't say anything, didn't move.

"Keep going, Tess," Keira urged.

Taking the advice, Tess crawled under the table, too, slowly. "See? I'm not going to hurt you." She reached out to touch the girl, and with a flinch, the girl let her. Thinking that it was a good sign, Tess moved another inch closer and started petting the girl's shoulder. "Alright, alright," she chanted in a soothing voice.

Jak threw a glance at Keira, then Ashelin, wondering if either of them had any ideas. He met only two confused expressions. Looking back at what he could see of Tess and the girl, he crouched down to see better.

Tess was still speaking soothingly, and then began asking the girl if she'd come out. Crawling backwards, she tugged the child's arm, and to everyone's surprise, the girl followed. But even out from under the table, she remained curled up, which Jak had a feeling had nothing to do with her being nude. Her eyes didn't show enough intelligence to suggest she would be embarrassed about her appearance.

Then Daxter came up to the two and said, "You got a name?"

Obviously that was not a good move, because the girl's eyes widened and then she sprinted off, this time heading for a car. Jak was actually fairly stunned at how fast she could move, even launching herself off the arm of the couch rather than go around. She darted under the car, and then everyone moved, swooping to circle the vehicle, then they all knelt down to look under the car.

There she was, just as tightly curled up as before, tail around her leg and arm. Tess warned Daxter not to follow, then went under the car to meet the girl.

"What are we gonna do with her?" Keira wondered aloud as Tess tried to calm the girl.

"I don't know," Jak answered.

"We're gonna at least figure out what she is, right?" Daxter asked no one.

"She's a kid," Ashelin shot back. "Just. . .a different kind."

Nobody had anything better to say.

"Tess," Keira started as the blonde began leading the girl again, "bring her to me."

Tess agreed with a nod, moving towards Keira. The girl paused uncertainly a few times along the way, but Tess just kept going back and urging her on. When at last the both of them were out, Keria didn't move but to open her arms for the girl. With questionable looks towards both Tess and Keira, she slowly inched closer to Keira.

Keira smiled at her, touched her cheek, and didn't make any quick movements until she was practically in Keira's lap. Then Keira picked her up, saying, "She's really shaking."

"I bet," Ashelin murmured. "She's also really dirty."

Which she was, skin and hair covered in dirt and grease, her hair especially a mess. With a giggle, Keira stood up. "I'll go give her a bath."

"I'll find her some clothes," Ashelin added, standing.

"I need a bath, too," Tess observed, looking down at herself, nearly as oil-ridden as the girl was.

"I'll join you," Daxter grinned.

Jak sighed. "I'll contact Samos."

An hour later and everyone except Pecker were in the room. The girl was clean, dressed, and even had her hair up in a ponytail, compliments of Keira. Ashelin had not only returned with clothes, but also a very confused Torn, whom she'd tried to describe the girl to. Now they all either stood or sat in view of Keira, who held the girl to her chest, arms and legs wrapped around Keira.

Despite his age and wisdom, Samos actually looked the most perplexed. He started by saying, "It shouldn't be possible to mix human and Precursor blood."

"I think we've all established that," Torn shot back.

It was easy to look and see evidence of both species in the girl. Besides her tail and feet being like an ottsel's, her nose was as well, and her ears were a bit higher on her head. Keira even mentioned that the girl's skin was completely lacking in fur -- except on the back of her ears. Her tail was smooth skin, so were her feet.

"Well, whatever she is," Keira reasoned, "we can't just kick her out or abandon her."

"I think it's a good idea," Torn argued.

"No," Ashelin snapped. "We're not tossing her."

"Then what are we gonna do?" he asked. "We can't keep her."

"She's not some pet," Jak told him. "It's not about 'can't keep her.'"

"Right!" Daxter agreed with a nod.

"Then give her back to Kleiver," Torn suggested.

"Not a chance," Keira said with a shake of her head.

"I agree, he'd just throw her back where he found her," Jak added.

"That's what I'd do," Torn grumbled.

Keira just sighed.

"We're _not_ tossing her," Jak told him more firmly.

"She'll be fine; look, she's an animal!" Torn gestured her. "She can't speak and she's this big already, she doesn't need our help!"

"Regardless!" Samos snapped, banging his staff on the ground for attention. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that coincidence and chance are rare. There's a mystery here, and if you look at our past together, that's one thing we're excellent at. We will find out what she is, we will find out _who_ she is, and we will find out why she came to us."

Torn gave an audible sigh that said "Kleiver is why she came to us."

"What should we do until then?" Keira asked no one in particular.

"I don't think anyone wants to take her home," Ashelin started.

"We could let her stay here," Jak offered.

"In the garage?" Keira asked sharply, looking at Jak as though he were a monster.

"It's not that bad!" he said quickly, trying to defend himself. "Look, we have a lounge here, a bathroom with a shower, a refrigerator, three couches, more than a few monitors. . . _Anyone_ could live here."

"You have a point," Daxter agreed with a nod.

"But no beds," Keira argued.

"I'll stay with her," Tess put in, coming closer to the girl. "In case she needs anything, you know?"

Daxter actually looked sad. Then he perked up, saying, "Hey, I could stay, too!"

"I don't think so," Tess told him.

"Aww, please?"

"Not a chance," she snapped. "You just want to stay because I'm staying."

"That's not a good reason?"

"You're not staying," she said firmly, yet she still smiled.

He looked put out. "See you tomorrow, then?"

"We'll see everyone tomorrow," Jak answered. "Then again, I'm assuming we all want to know more?"

Torn was the only one who didn't agree verbally or nod, but even he looked curious. Jak took that as an affirmative.

"Then tomorrow," Samos began, "we'll take her to the lab and run tests. Anyone who wants to know results will be there." He didn't ask, he was ordering.

As though that were a clear dismissal, everyone began moving. Torn, Ashelin and Samos all left, though Jak, Daxter, Tess and Keira remained behind. That didn't last too long. After a while, they all ran out of reasons to stay. Jak couldn't say he was staying to be with Keira after she decided she had to go back home, and Daxter left when Tess ordered him to. In the end, Jak himself had only been there about an hour, but in that time, the girl certainly seemed to calm down a lot.

In a way, he kind of wished she hadn't been there, since he'd been originally planning for everyone else to leave so he'd have Keira in the garage, all by herself. It was too bad, but still, he wouldn't have been able to give a reason to Ashelin, Daxter or Tess without giving away what he really wanted anyway.

He walked beside Keira all the same, and like was his habit lately, he touched her the whole way. Her arm, her side, her shoulder, her waist, her hip, her neck; wherever. Every so often she giggled, yet never tried to stop him. He wanted to go with her into her house, but she gave him a regretful look that told him "no." Still, he kissed her good night -- the kind of kiss that said "I promise."

In this case, he was promising "soon." They hadn't spoken the whole way back, and still not a word was said even as she shut her door. For a moment he stood where he was, contemplating following her, but he didn't want to make her mad. So instead, he gave in, heading back to his own home not far away.

Daxter was already there -- Daxter, who was supposedly living with Tess, in the gun range where Tess used to stay briefly and now settled.

"What are you doing here?" Jak asked him, though not with an unwelcome tone. Daxter had been his best friend for years, both in danger and out of it. Anytime Daxter wanted to hang out was fine, as long as it didn't interrupt sleeping -- with or without Keira being present.

"Pouting," Daxter spat. Arms crossed, lounging on Jak's sofa, he certainly looked that way. He was glaring at the monitor, though it wasn't on.

Jak had to chuckle. "Because Tess said 'no?' I feel your pain, buddy," he sighed as he sat down, too.

"Really, you'd think she would be more welcome to the idea," Daxter went on, glare remaining.

"Like she has in the past," Jak added.

"But nooo, that girl shows up and suddenly our night on the town disappears!" he snapped, jumping up at the last word.

With a laugh that was half a sob, Jak fell back. "Same here. Keira and I had plans for tonight."

"She didn't mention anything to Tess," Daxter pointed out. "You know those girls tell each other everything."

"Well," Jak coughed, "it wasn't so much 'we' had something planned," he amended. "But at least I had a surprise in mind."

Daxter laughed in a way that was slightly insane. "Don't we all? Ah well, Tess doesn't know what she's missing!"

"What, Orange Lightning?" Jak mocked, poking Daxter in the side.

"Hey, bub!" Daxter snapped. "I'll have you know that's what Tess cries in the best moments!"

"First," Jak shot back, a little disgusted by the thought in his mind, "I don't wanna even have a hint what you two do, alright? And second, by 'best moments,' you mean two, right?"

Daxter's fur almost turned as red as his hair used to be. "Now looky here Jak, I don't care what you and Keira do, but don't you dare go insulting what I can or cannot do to Tess!"

Jak couldn't stop his snort. "Which one applies here?" he asked.

Daxter growled, then successfully burst into laughter. For a moment Jak had to wonder what was so damn funny, then he figured Daxter had simply lost his mind. It had taken a long time, but it'd finally happened.

Then, very abruptly, the insane laughter stopped, Daxter pointed at him, and said, "Bet you think you're pretty funny, don't ya?"

"Yep," Jak agreed, brushing Daxter's hand aside. "But seriously, I'm sure we're both thinking about that little girl."

Daxter dropped his hand. "And here I thought I was the only one."

"She can't be an Ottsel," Jak started, positive of it.

"I'll say," Daxter agreed with a nod. "But she can't be a human, either."

"And she can't be in between, because that's _impossible._ Humans and Ottsels can't procreate."

"Not to mention they wouldn't want to," Daxter pointed out. "Is she a new species or something?"

"Or an old one," Jak suggested. "First or last of her kind?"

"First or last _known_," Daxter stressed. "For all we know, there's a whole country of 'em!"

Jak wanted to laugh at that, since he knew Daxter well enough to know he was throwing in a joke to lighten the mood. Even so, he couldn't help the lack of humor in this situation; there was nothing for him to laugh at. Leaning forward, he propped his elbows on his knees, then rested his chin in his hand. None of this made sense to him, at least not yet.

When he glanced over, he saw Daxter in the exact same position as himself and had to give a laugh then. They were both perplexed, and he imagined so were everybody else. Hopefully tomorrow they'd have answers, because the questions plaguing him wouldn't end until at least _one_ question was answered.

Exactly what was she?


	2. First Of, Last Of

**Disclaimer:** _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ Please oh please don't think I'm lying.

**Jak5: Strange Existence**

__

Two: First Of, Last Of

Torn was the last one to show up the following morning, but he was still early of the time they'd decided upon. Even Pecker had been informed and now was openly staring at the girl. Keira was holding her, just as she'd been yesterday. The girl certainly had wide, curious eyes; she was looking around at everything just as interested as everyone was looking at her. Even so, she remained still, as though it helped hide her.

Almost everyone were engaged in conversation with someone else, except that Jak was staying out of it. He listened well enough, but he couldn't keep his eyes off the sight of Keira and the child. She just looked so natural like that, with a girl in her arms, as though she herself were the mother. Of course that would be impossible, and he knew it; the girl didn't look young enough to be a child of Keira's.

Still, they both looked comfortable. He figured if they weren't playing mother and daughter, then they were playing sisters; either way, it made him smile. If Keira was really that alright with a little one in her arms, then maybe he wouldn't have to stress himself so much anymore in avoiding. . .certain things.

Now he had to steer his thoughts away from the path they were going to take, before he ended up with a problem that was hard to mask in tight pants. He supposed he could blame Keira for that, given she turned him down last night, but at the same time, he didn't really want to.

"Alright," Samos started, once again stamping his staff on the floor for attention. "We're leaving now. Keira, my dear, I don't want anyone noticing her tail, so --"

"Got it covered, Daddy," Keira interrupted. Pulling the girl away from her, she grabbed a small blanket and wrapped the girl's lower half in it. Like this, it almost looked like a skirt, which Jak admitted was a bit cute.

Once again in Keira's arms, everyone was officially ready to go. Rather than walking, they piled into two aircraft vehicles, Jak and Torn driving the two.

Kras city, he noted, was definitely recovering. Rubble could still be seen most everywhere, despite having two years to straighten up. But people were more interested in fixing their lives than fixing the city itself, which he could understand well. He was rebuilding a life for himself, too, pulled between Haven and Spargus.

Most people these days at least knew who he was, between fighting the city, saving it, and publicity from Combat Racing last year. Racing he'd been forced to participate in, but still, it'd been fun. He couldn't really deny that part.

When they reached the lab as Samos suggested, they all took up places that were out of the way. Keira, on the other hand, opting to keep holding the girl considering she wouldn't let go. With Keira, Ashelin and Tess nearby, she seemed calm enough, so the three women kept up posts around her.

And when she wouldn't let anyone else touch her, Ashelin had to. She took a blood sample from the girl, putting it in a machine meant to analyze it. While the machine ran, they weighed the girl, measured her height, and realized just how unhealthy she seemed to be. At that knowledge, Ashelin gave Torn an "I told you so" kind of look.

She was far too light and had discoloration around her eyes. For being someone who stayed in the desert, she was also curiously devoid of a tan, though her skin was a bit red in some places, Keira informed them. Between the tests and discussing more about her, the machine analyzing her blood finally ended. Ashelin went to look at the results, which promptly became just another mystery they couldn't solve yet.

"It says," Ashelin started, "that she _is_ a mix of human and ottsel. There's no doubt about it. She seems to be eleven years old, too." Looking her over, Ashelin added, "Pretty small for eleven."

"You're just tall," Keira shot back. But it was true; the girl was almost tiny for being half-grown.

Samos gave a sigh. "I suppose I'll have to ask the desert if it remembers anything about her."

"What do we do in the meantime?" Jak asked. "Let her stay in the garage?"

"She's pretty comfortable with it," Tess offered. "She didn't have any trouble falling asleep."

"I'm not sure if that's good or bad," Keira replied, looking down at the girl.

"And we can't keep calling her 'her,'" Ashelin threw in.

"Oh, no," Daxter spoke up, shaking his head. "If we name her, then we're saying she's one of us."

"Like what happens when you name a stray animal," Torn added.

He got a room full of glares for that. And Ashelin shot back, "Haven't we argued about this before? She's not an animal."

"We've established she's half ottsel," he pointed out.

"A-_hem_!" Daxter interrupted, trying to stand up taller. "Tess and I take offense to that. We're not animals, either."

"Mammals," Torn replied sarcastically.

"That's it!" Daxter snapped, moving to rush at Torn. Jak caught him and pointedly kept Daxter where he was.

"This is no time for arguing," Keira told them all. "Look, I'll think of a name for her. And I'm not saying I'm going to adopt her, but until we figure out what to do with her, we have to at least take care of her."

"She's a kid, after all," Tess agreed. "I'll help you think of something."

And just like that, it was meeting adjourned. Everyone seemed to split into pairs; Ashelin with Torn, Tess with Keira, Daxter with Jak and Pecker with Samos. Rather than stay, Jak felt far too restless with the new knowledge he'd gained. Decided anything was better than sitting around, he hopped a transport to Spargus.

A part of him wanted to talk to Kleiver, but he knew it would be pointless. By now he knew more than Kleiver did about that girl. He considered finding Sig, as well. But knowing him, Sig was out hunting in the wasteland by now, either looking for artifacts or remaining metalheads. Jak knew from experience that metalheads were few and far between these days, though it didn't make the wasteland any less dangerous.

Or any less vast. Two people could go into the desert, separate, and not spot each other again until they both returned, regardless of if they were searching for one another. This had happened more than once in Jak's own life, and so he decided not to bother searching for Sig.

"So what are we doin', bud?" Daxter asked from his shoulder.

"I dunno," Jak answered. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Well, it's been a while since we last took a spin on the hoverpad," Daxter suggested.

Jak chuckled. That was true enough. But then, it had been a long time since he'd _had_ to use the hoverpad, so it was no wonder he was out of practice. "Alright," he agreed.

"To the wasteland?"

"To the wasteland."

- - - - -

Going to wasteland had ended up in about an hour of fun on the hoverpad, which somehow became a trip to the Precursor Temple. It was another of Daxter's ideas, to see if anyone was at the temple anymore. This meant they had to go back to get a vehicle, considering the string of islands they had to jump to reach said temple. Still, it was a good idea, given the Precursors tended to have answers.

If they were there anymore.

Although it'd been more than two years since his last trip here, standing in front of that statue still made him feel little. He wasn't too happy with that, but nonetheless, it wasn't really worth complaining over.

Daxter started talking first, yelling loudly if anybody was home, then demanding an answer. And to their surprise, those slit eyes of the statue began glowing.

As ominous as ever, it started speaking. "You return to us?"

"Yeah," Jak laughed. "Something. . .fairly interesting happened."

"So tell us," Daxter said bluntly, "can ottsels and humans get it on?"

"What?" was the statue's answer.

"What he means is," Jak started, glaring at Daxter, "is it possible for an ottsel and human to have a child together?"

"Possibilities abound," it replied indirectly.

"Don't give us that shtick," Daxter snapped. "Answer the question, okay?!"

For a long moment there was no answer, then a rush of voices. Jak had to roll his eyes, thinking that the same three 'precursors' he met before were now debating.

"Okay," he shouted, trying to get attention, "let's rephrase the question. Has it ever happened before?"

"No," the statue answered quickly. "Have you found such a child?"

"Firstly, yes," Daxter told it, "and secondly, you really don't have to keep up with that 'holier than thou' bullshit."

Jak had to agree to that. "You can just come down, you know."

"We can't," the statue shot back. "We're not on your planet any longer. This is a communications line."

"Oh great, long distance charges," Daxter sighed.

"What can you tell us about this child?"

Jak and Daxter shared a glance before starting. Between the two of them, they had all the details mentioned quickly, though granted it must have sounded terribly give-and-take with how Jak tried retelling the events at the same time Daxter tried to spew out pointed details as he recalled them.

And then, apparently having had enough, the statue's voice boomed out, "Okay, okay! We get it!"

Jak fell silent, not because the statue called for it, but because he had nothing else to say anyway. Daxter, on the other hand, immediately got into an argument with the statue for trying to order them into silence.

After a minute of that, Jak's amusement faded and he clamped a hand over Daxter's mouth. "We said what we came to say," he told the ottsel.

Daxter pouted, obviously not finished with his insults towards a statue's head and how ridiculous it looked.

"We will look into this," the statue said now. "But we can't promise we'll find anything. Visit us again soon."

That was a clear dismissal. Despite wanting to berate the Precursors for thinking they could still order him around, he didn't feel a real need to. If he thought about it a different way, they then would be waiting at some machine, he imagined, until he came back.

And he could keep them waiting for as long as he liked.

- - - - -

"Sunni."

Jak gave Keira a doubtful look. "Sunni," he repeated.

"Right," she grinned, clearly proud of herself.

"We think it fits perfectly," Tess agreed.

Daxter was looking between Tess and 'Sunni,' the girl. "You picked 'Sunni' to be her name?"

"What's so hard to believe about that?" Keira asked, offended.

"It sounds weird," Daxter answered.

"Don't be stupid," Tess snapped. "It's pretty."

"Pretty weird," Jak mumbled to himself.

Everyone heard, and now he had two angry women glaring at him. He offered a sheepish grin, hoping they wouldn't gang up on him. He hated it when they did that. Really, women band together so efficiently when it comes to attacking men.

"It's perfect," Keira said firmly. "She certainly likes it."

Which appeared to be true, he admitted. Sunni was all smiles, grinning up at Keira. If anything, it looked like Sunni was already attached to Keira. . .and Keira had the same cute expression. The two of them had definitely bonded, despite having been together for just a day.

"I'm not arguing," Jak relented, holding up his hands in surrender. "She likes it; you like it. Just don't hurt me."

Keira's glare faded and she giggled.

Daxter, however, now bore that glare. He gave Jak a hard look before saying, "Whipped."

Jak couldn't help but sneer back, "You too."

"We're thinking of putting together a room for Sunni," Tess was saying now.

"That's great -- what?!" Daxter snapped, at first too busy making faces at Jak to pay attention. Now he hopped off Jak's shoulder to be beside Tess, the better to be heard. "Here, in the garage? You're actually making a _room_?"

"We _have_ rooms," Keira pointed out. "We have three of them that are useless storage areas."

"And completely taken up," Daxter shot back. "That's why Tess and I aren't living here, if you recall."

"No, Tess and I aren't living here," Tess started, "because Tess likes living above the gun range. And you like living with Tess."

Daxter blew out a sigh, unable to fight back at that. "But still, that means we'd have to clear out one of the rooms."

"Or," Keira suggested with a teasing look at Jak, "we could just have Jak go Dark and bomb the room."

"Ha ha," Jak replied humorlessly. "Don't even joke like that, it's not funny."

"I'll joke however I like," she challenged.

"Not about _me_ you won't."

"This isn't gonna turn into a fight, is it?" Daxter cut in. "Because really, all that means is that the two of you are going to be glaring at each other for a week."

And then make-up sex, Jak thought but refrained from saying. He was already in trouble with Keira, he could see it in how she was looking at him. And he'd been denied any "fun" yesterday as it was; he didn't want to end up in the dog house. Especially so because Keira had a habit of purposely looking that much sexier whenever he screwed up badly.

Punishment, teasing, or promises for later; he could never figure out what her intentions were. Most of the time he just assumed she was being cruel and did his best to put up with it.

"We were talking about clearing out a room?" Jak suggested, hoping it would calm her down.

She smiled. "I'm glad you're okay with the idea, given you're going to be doing the most work."

"Oh, come on!" he whined. "You're not really going to make me do all the heavy lifting, are you?"

"You expect _us_ to do it?" Keira shot back, raising her brows.

She had a point there, much as he hated to admit it. Two ottsels, a girl, a grown woman and himself were present -- it was an easy choice who'd be doing most of the work. Though he wanted to argue that Keira was plenty strong for a woman, he knew better than to bring it up.

"Besides which, you're not," she said now. "I already called Ashelin about it. She said she was going to convince Torn to help out, too."

"Seriously?" Daxter asked, genuinely surprised. "He practically hates the girl!"

"Sunni," Tess snapped.

"Sunni," Daxter repeated, rolling his eyes.

"And just how is Ashelin convincing Torn to help?" Jak said.

Keira gave him a sly smile. "Feminine wiles, I imagine."

Okay, he could see that happening. From what he knew of Ashelin and Torn's relationship, they were definitely hot for each other. Probably more so on Torn's side, given what few conversations he'd had with Torn about it. Though Torn was the type to keep things to himself, Jak had still gotten the other man to (somewhat longingly) go into description of his thoughts about Ashelin. There had been more than a handful of comments on the redhead's side pointedly about Ashelin's shapeliness.

"So when's he showing up?" Jak asked now, trying to straighten out his thoughts.

"Soon," Ashelin answered, practically strutting into the garage. She wore a triumphant look he'd seen more than once. And behind her, jaw set and glare in place, was Torn.

Jak had to give the other man a sympathetic kind of smile. They were both stuck at this point, "whipped" as Daxter had put it. It was so odd to him, how the strongest fighters could so easily be swayed, demoted, defeated, and so completely owned by the woman he loved.

The next few hours were filled with grunts of manual labor, and colored every so often with a spiteful comment towards either Ashelin or Keira, who watched not far away. On the one hand, Jak himself could tell with the way Keira was looking at him that she was planning on making up for having him do this, but on the other, he wasn't sure how much energy he'd have left by the time they finished.

And from the way Torn kept growling and glancing back at Ashelin, he was thinking the same thing.


	3. Growing Attached

****

Disclaimer: _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ Please oh please don't think I'm lying.

**__**

Jak5: Strange Existence

Three: Growing Attached

Annoyed and charmed at the same time, Jak could only grit his teeth and try not to look down. Cute as she was, Sunni really fit her name these days. It'd been three months since she came into their lives, and it had only taken her about a week to begin clinging. It was difficult to do work, too, when there was a girl wrapped around your torso. Frustratingly, he found it adorable enough that he couldn't make her let go.

Especially when she grinned up at him like that, giggling.

"Look," he bit out, "you need to _let go._ Do you understand that? _Let go._"

Her grin widened. He heaved a sigh, giving in. There was either a problem with her ears, or she just didn't understand language yet. He considered she just might be more of an animal than everyone assumed, but dashed the theory; they'd already proved it wrong.

Sunni was definitely not an unintelligent being. While she didn't understand words themselves well yet, she was catching on little by little. She was very quick, healthy, and clever, as well. They discovered a while back that she has an excellent sense of direction, as she started playing games with Tess and Daxter -- just to keep the three of them out of the way -- and she'd gone all over the garage and even outside, coming back easily when Keira called for her.

Samos' attempt at asking the desert resulted in nothing more than that she'd been living there for roughly three years. The desert's answers, apparently, all linked back to her very existence being sudden, as though she'd simply appeared from nowhere. That got Samos pointedly wondering how she'd come to the desert, if she hadn't been born there.

Sunni herself still couldn't give any verbal answers, and questions about her time in the desert always met with a confused look. Given her expression when bemused, nobody could really keep asking anything, especially when Keira was around. Once Sunni started with that look, Keira hugged her close, charmed completely by how cute she was.

She played tricks from time to time, always sugar-coating any angry reactions with how sweet she was. One time she yanked the chair out from under Torn when he was going to sit down, then dashed out of the room, successfully avoiding his wrath. Later on, she'd come back and gave him the cutest look.

It had taken a long time, but eventually she won him over. She did, however, learn that Torn was _not_ the one to play tricks on after that. They also discovered she was a great climber, which wasn't much of a surprise given Daxter and Tess were, as well. All she needed was a pole, a strong wire, a few objects, or a rough wall. She was nearly as quick at climbing as she was at sprinting.

And getting damn useful at both, now that she was starting to understand simpler commands. It was easy for Keira to tell Sunni that it was time for a bath, and given how Sunni enjoyed baths, she would be there instantly and already running the water by the time Keira got there. Usually, she was also finished undressing, too.

This also worked in helping Keira work on things, Jak learned. Normally if someone else was there, Keira would ask for this tool or that piece from time to time. Given it was just her, Jak and Sunni one time, he was fully prepared for her to ask him to get things. But she never did, and after a little while, he found out why.

Along with words, Keira made shapes with her hands to communicate to Sunni which item she wanted, and Sunni was quick to get it. Jak watched, surprised at how Sunni rarely picked the wrong thing. When she did, Keira would simply reiterate what she wanted, and Sunni never failed to get it right the second time. More than this, he was stunned to see that every time Sunni returned with the requested item, Keira always gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Jak himself had felt more useless than usual, seeing Sunni and Keira like that, but he'd also thought it was incredibly sweet. Which was odd in itself, given Jak had never been all that partial to cute things as a whole.

He was starting to think that maybe he could be more keen on "cute" as long as it involved Sunni. It was so annoying to have a clinging girl refusing to let go of your chest, frustrating that every attempt to remove her failed miserably from her grinning, and far too adorable to keep him angry for long. Even so, since Keira had stepped out, that left him alone with only Ashelin.

"Hey, Ashe," he started, and when she looked, he gestured Sunni, hoping she'd get the idea.

With a chuckle, she came over and pulled Sunni off him. Sunni, bright as she was, simply spun around and clung to Ashelin instead. Now he could finally do the work he'd been assigned efficiently.

- - - - -

"Keira. _Keira. Keira._"

"I don't think she gets it," Jak offered.

Keira frowned, trying to get Sunni to speak her name. Pointing at herself, she said it again.

Sunni had her attention totally focused on Keira, obviously trying to understand. She knew who Keira was, knew who Jak was, knew everyone's name, herself included. But she apparently was having trouble getting why Keira kept gesturing herself and repeating her name like that.

Keira gave a sigh, then pointed at Sunni. "Sunni." She pointed at herself. "Keira." She pointed at Jak. "Jak."

Sunni gave her a puzzled look. "Sunni," she repeated, pointing at herself.

Keira's eyes lit up, even as Sunni went on, pointing at Keira and Jak respectively and giving their names. "You did it!" Keira crowed, lifting Sunni into her arms. "You did it, Sunni!" she chanted.

Jak rolled his eyes. "It was bound to happen sometime," he mumbled, wishing Keira weren't going crazy.

"I know," Keira agreed, but even his smart comment didn't dull her mood. She kissed him on the cheek as she danced by, still singing praises to a bemused but happy Sunni.

Now he was feeling pretty good about himself, too. Keira was just too good at manipulating his emotions. Even so, he thought she looked so happy now, dancing around the room with a laughing Sunni.

"Now," she started, setting Sunni back on the table like she'd been before. "Let's get to work for real. I want you to repeat me, okay?"

Sunni's response was to blink.

"Say 'yes,'" Jak prodded.

"Yes," Sunni agreed.

Keira threw Jak a grin as thanks, then started trying to get Sunni to speak whole sentences.

Sometime later, with Jak and Keira working together, it seemed to be progressing well. Then, when Daxter and Tess both returned from wherever they'd been, he wasn't sure anymore if Sunni was improving or not. Once it became obvious that Sunni was learning words, Daxter jumped in. Tess did, too, but much more calmly.

And then Sunni was wide-eyed, attention stretched between all four of them. While Jak and Keira were working as a team, Tess and Daxter weren't. Or at least, Tess was trying to become a part of the team, while Daxter just kept plowing through what everyone else was doing. Whether or not Sunni was actually learning anything became a mystery fairly fast. She stopped trying to repeat them altogether, instead gaining and losing comprehension with every word said.

Until Keira sent Jak a pleading look, which he responded to by clamping a hand over Daxter's mouth. Deciding to leave things to the capable hands of women, he took Daxter away from the room. When at last he let go, Daxter started yelling at him -- which he'd been expecting. Rather than argue a point that would become clear soon enough, he waited for the moment when Daxter would run out of things to say and seethe instead.

"Finished?" he asked, when at last Daxter was breathless.

Daxter just glared at him.

"Good. Then come with me, Dax," he started, heading for a transit to Spargus.

"Where're we going?" Daxter asked, trailing behind him.

"The Temple," Jak answered, knowing he wouldn't have to go into further detail.

"Ohh, think the Precursors finally have answers?" Daxter replied, jumping into the aircraft with Jak.

"They'd better, it's been three months," Jak told him. "Otherwise I'm going to start to seriously doubt their ability to 'know' things."

Daxter gave a kind of mischievous giggle. "So if they don't, you're gonna, what? Wreck the temple?"

Jak had to wonder at that. "Has Tess been cold to you lately? You're sounding a lot more. . .evil."

"Evil?" Daxter repeated, looking offended. "It's just been a long time since we've done anything as buds."

"Anything destructive, you mean."

"Oh come on, it was fun blowing stuff up. Right, wasn't it?"

"Ignoring the murderous opponents and hundreds of deathly dangerous things we had to accomplish?"

Daxter frowned. "When you put it like _that_," he answered.

Jak chuckled. "Well, it was definitely more thrilling. But come on, you can't say you miss the constant fear that we were gonna fall short of a jump, miss a target, or avoid being slaughtered."

"Don't say it like that, we were heroes!" Daxter shot back, jumping in the air.

Jak sat back, thinking about that. Daxter obviously thought it'd been the best time of their lives, and really, Jak couldn't blame him. But then, Daxter didn't know the darker side of what he'd had to go through, did he? He gave a sigh, thinking that besides the two years he'd spent in prison, experimented on and tortured, the whole series of events had been -- in the right light -- fun.

Now that everything was infinitely more calm, he supposed he wouldn't have nearly as many adventures. And to think, he'd gone through all these events before he was twenty. It was insane to comprehend now, but at the time, there hadn't been time to sit and think things over.

He was laughing now, though he didn't notice until Daxter pointed it out. Then he stopped, waiting for the transit to land.

"So, bud," Daxter started as they headed for a vehicle. "What was all that crazy laughter back there?"

"Crazy?" Jak echoed, climbing in the driver's seat.

"Yeah, crazy," Daxter agreed. "You sounded kind of. . .insane."

"I was just thinking," Jak told him, driving out into the desert.

"About?"

"About. . .everything," he answered with a shrug.

"You can't think about 'everything' in five minutes. So what was the topic of interest?"

He smirked. "You got me thinking of the past, of our adventures."

"Really?" Suddenly Daxter looked proud of himself.

"Yep."

"So why were you laughing?"

"Because, think about it. How old were we when we fought Gol and Maia?"

Daxter gave a shudder at the memory, but answered. "Fifteen."

"How old were we when you sprang me out of prison?"

"Seventeen."

"And then when we were exiled?"

Daxter paused before saying, "Eighteen."

"Do you see anything odd about this?" he asked sharply, hopping over the last gap in islands.

"Okay, so we were really young," Daxter agreed with a nod.

"Right," Jak said, pointing at him. "How many people do you think go through what we did, at the same ages?"

Daxter gave a shrug, then they were both climbing out of the Grasshopper. "A few?"

"C'mon, what're the odds of that?" Jak shot back as Daxter hopped on his shoulder.

"Does it matter anymore?" Daxter returned smoothly.

"Maybe not," Jak relented. "But really, isn't it enough to think it'd be okay to go a little crazy?"

"Or a lot."

He laughed.

"So, do you think we're getting any answers from my brothers?" Daxter asked sharply.

Jak raised a brow. "I don't know when you started calling them brothers, but yeah, they probably have _something_ worthwhile to say. Or maybe I just might wreck the temple," he added with a glance at Daxter.

Daxter grinned in return. "Ohhh yeah. I'm hoping they haven't learned squat."

A few minutes later, and they were standing in front of the statue -- which was giving no signs of life, despite all the yelling Daxter was doing. He'd even picked up a piece of rubble and thrown it, hitting the statue's left "eye" and still received no response.

"What are they, out to lunch?" Daxter snapped, gesturing the statue but looking at Jak.

Jak shrugged. "How would I know? But in their defense, it _is_ lunchtime."

Daxter inclined his head in an agreement, then blurted, "Oh come on, they should at least have some kind of --"

"You've returned."

"That?" Jak finished, laughing as the voice had made Daxter jump.

Eyes glowing, the statue was officially "alive" now.

"Yeah, we've returned, you stone-faced mutant!" Daxter shouted back. "We've only been here for half an hour!"

Jak raised his brow doubtfully.

"Our readings show you've been here for five minutes," the statue returned smoothly.

"Your damn readings are wrong!" Daxter snapped.

"That's not the point," Jak interrupted before this could turn into another fight. "Did you find anything?"

The statue's eyes flickered, turned off, returned, flicked off again, then did a kind of strobe-like on-off thing. All the while, whenever the eyes were lit, they could hear bits of conversations -- yelling between three voices. Finally, after a short while of that, the eyes successfully lit up again.

"And that was. . ?" Daxter prodded.

"That," the statue replied angrily, "was Surfer changing the channel." Then, to someone else, "Is he locked out now? . . Okay, good."

"The point?" Jak tried.

"Oh yes, the girl."

"Sunni," Jak and Daxter said in unison.

"You've named her?"

"Keira and Tess did," Jak coughed.

"Err. . ." The statue murmured to someone else, then came back. "We have looked into it. We've discovered that it is impossible for your kind and ours to breed. Proportionately and genetically, we don't match anywhere near enough to procreate together. If this girl truly is a mix of us, then it had to have been done either from mutation, genetic altering, or thousands of years of evolution."

"Evolution can't be possible," Daxter disagreed. "You all should know it."

"That we do," the statue told him.

"And we can't do genetic altering," Jak added. "The most we can do is Eco experiments." Which he knew from personal experience.

"So it's mutation?" Daxter asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"We also have our doubts about that," the statue denied. "But without having the girl with us to test, we can't be sure any way."

"Meaning. . ?" Jak prodded.

"Bring her here, and we will take her. It may take days, months or years, but we will discover how she came to be."

Jak tensed his jaw. Daxter, too, wore a glare.

"You mean to give her to you," Daxter said, "so you could hold onto her, run tests on her, and generally scare her for who-knows-how-long?"

"Don't make us sound like monsters," the statue snapped back. "This is in pursuit of knowledge."

Jak and Daxter shared a look that was in perfect agreement: they weren't going to take Sunni anywhere. Rather than telling the Precursors this, Jak replied, "We'll think about it."

"Briefly," Daxter added almost silently.

"Good." The statue actually sounded pleased. "Whenever you believe she's ready, bring her here to the temple. We will do the rest. And," it added as they turned to leave, "be prepared to part indefinitely."

Both of them left without a single word to add, Daxter on the verge of seething and Jak considering destroying the entire temple. He knew what feeling like this meant, too; he'd grown attached to Sunni. And even if he hadn't, he couldn't just hand a little girl over to have much the same fate he'd gone through himself. Though he imagined the Precursors meant well enough, it would still end up scaring Sunni needlessly to be sent somewhere else all over again.

So, he decided, he wasn't going to bring her to the temple. If he had to build walls or sink the entire island, she was staying far from the Precursors and whatever they had planned.


	4. Learning

****

Disclaimer: _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ Please oh please don't think I'm lying.

**__**

Jak5: Strange Existence

Four: Learning

Once the talking started, Sunni was much more of a bundle of energy. She was all over everyone, looking over shoulders, jumping from person to person, asking questions nonstop. They even started taking her out, offering no explanations to anyone who asked about her tail. They visited particular places in the city just to let her look around more, even took her to Spargus.

And in Spargus, they learned, she recognized the desert layout. Without waiting for anyone, she sprinted off, making Jak, Keira and Daxter chase after her. No one else Pecker opted to come along, and Pecker was more amazed at how easily Sunni ate up the terrain.

Though they all knew just how nimble and quick she was, nobody expected her to have such ease moving about an area she didn't know. Nothing seemed to slow her down, not dips, humps, twists, turns, buildings, or even people. She climb up and around things, launched herself from whatever she could, surprisingly a woman as she leapt from a rock to her shoulder to the ground again without missing a beat.

"Was that an ottsel?" the woman asked as they started to run by.

"Yes," Daxter answered, for simplicity's sake.

After a few minutes of this chase, Keira had enough and reclined by the coast. Jak had already opted to use the jet board, Daxter remaining on foot since it was much easier to follow Sunni's lopes this way. Even so, it didn't take too much longer and Daxter joined Keira at about the same time Pecker found them again. Seeing the rest of them having given up made Jak stop, though granted he still wanted to watch over her.

This was more true when she disappeared from sight, only to come sprinting back -- now chased by Kleiver, who apparently couldn't believe he'd seen her again.

She dashed behind Jak, then climbed up his back, glaring over his shoulder at Kleiver as the bigger man waddled towards them. With laughs that shook every inch of the man (a disgusting sight), Kleiver was instantly all insults.

"What's this, she's your new pet?" he said to Jak.

Jak set his jaw. "Maybe. Are you regretting handing her over?"

"Nah, she's a wee bit too small for me," Kleiver replied with a grin.

Jak wasn't sure what the man meant at that, but chose not to try and figure it out. "You're not going to start saying how we can't come here with Sunni, are you?"

"What's that?" Kleiver asked, raising his brows. "Ye gave her a name?"

"Yes," Keira answered, standing beside Jak.

"And don't you forget it!" Daxter added, standing on Keira's shoulder since Jak's were occupied.

Pecker remained where he was, oddly silent, though he did seem interested.

Kleiver chuckled. "Come and go as ye like," he said carelessly. "Just make sure to keep 'er on a leash."

"Hey!" Daxter snapped. "Why don't you go blow yourself!"

"Blow yourself!" Sunni echoed, her voice high. Obviously, she remembered Kleiver -- and didn't like him.

And instead of berating Sunni for her choice of what to repeat, or Daxter for saying it first, Keira threw in an insult of her own.

"And while you're at it, choke on it," she sneered.

Kleiver was apparently very amused by this, laughing heartily as he left. A few moments later, when he was out of sight, the moment shattered.

Snatching Sunni off Jak, Keira scolded her for what she said. At the same time, Jak was doing the same to Daxter, though he supposed everyone was to blame for Sunni's bad mouth. To everyone's surprise, that was when Pecker chose to start laughing, as though he'd seen the funniest things in years just then.

"What's so funny?" Keira, Jak and Daxter all said in unison, turning glares on Pecker.

"That was!" Pecker answered, still amused. "You should have seen the picture the four of you made. And then telling Kleiver off like that -- it was positively genius!"

Jak had to think about that. Trying to envision it, he put he and Keira side by side, Sunni on his back, Daxter on Keira's shoulder, the four of them facing off against Kleiver fearlessly. And just imagining the words that came from the latter three was shocking enough, let alone that they'd come from innocent Sunni and Keira.

"Ah, we coulda done better," Daxter spat. Glaring up at Jak, he added, "You could've said something, too!"

Jak shrugged. "I thought you three had it covered."

Keira bit her lip. "In my defense, I didn't plan on saying anything of the sort."

"You're forgiven," he told her.

"Whipped," Daxter whispered to Jak.

Rather than reply, Jak shoved him aside. Getting up from where he'd eaten it, the smaller one was all fight, fists raised and asking for a battle.

Then, very abruptly, Sunni grabbed Daxter and hugged him tight.

Other than turning a bit blue from the strength of the hug, Daxter looked appeased. Though he still said, "Hey, what'd I do to deserve a hug?"

Sunni replied simply, "You're nice."

Keira gave them both a soft look, even added a long "aww" -- though Jak couldn't tell if it was intentional or not.

That was when Daxter decided to put up a front, pushing Sunni from him and brushing off his fur. "So," he tried, salvaging his pride, "you don't like that guy?" he asked Sunni.

She frowned. "He was mean."

"How so?" Keira said, turning Sunni to face her.

"He didn't let me go," Sunni told her.

Jak thought about that. "Then, you tried to run away?"

"He's very big," she said matter-of-factly. Then she seemed to think about it, adding, "I guess he was trying to be nice. But he was still mean about it." She made a face.

From the sounds of it, she'd obviously tried to get away from Kleiver at some point, and given how incredibly difficult it was to keep ahold of her when she wanted to be elsewhere, he guessed Kleiver had a lot of trouble keeping her with him. Likely, the bigger man had to hold her still some way or another to keep her from fleeing. To someone like Sunni, who was very simple-minded when they'd first gotten her, it was probably terrifying to her.

And all the concern Jak felt about the way she'd retold the events faded. For a moment he was thinking of going after Kleiver and beating the man, and now he was surprised at where that urge had come from. Surely he couldn't be this attached already, this protective over her?

At second thought, that had to be it. Neither he nor Daxter mentioned visiting the Precursor Temple or what was said there, keeping the information to themselves. Like the way they were with Tess and Keira respectively, they were both wrapped around Sunni's little finger, he was sure. When she asked for help, someone always came. All of her questions were answered promptly and to whatever degree she needed. Not even Torn could keep her at arm's length for long, always giving into her affections eventually.

All this knowledge proved it: Jak was definitely protective over her. Maybe as something like a little sister, he thought. It was easy to think that way, too, given she was about the same size as an eight-year-old despite being eleven.

That got him thinking something no one had brought up before, and he voiced it. "Hey, when do you suppose her birthday is?"

He received three very confused expressions, followed by Sunni looking curiously from person to person.

"I never thought about it," Keira answered, seeming startled.

"Did the DNA test say anything about that?" Daxter asked.

"I don't know, Ashelin had the results," Jak said.

"Why not make it the day she showed up?" Pecker threw in.

Surprisingly, it was good idea. "That would work," Keira agreed.

Daxter glanced at Pecker, then at Keira. "So, that's what we're going with?"

"Good idea, Pecker," Jak said to the bird.

"What's a birthday?" Sunni asked.

- - - - -

Around dusk, Daxter had another brilliant idea that he seemed to be full of lately. He suggested that since they were already in the desert, why not look into where Sunni had been found? Jak was already planning to go into the nighttime wasteland and have a look around, given it'd been so long since the last time he saw the desert at night. He figured it would be a good idea to scout around and see what the nightlife was like these days.

"That would mean," he told Daxter, "finding Kleiver. He's the only one who knows where she was living."

Daxter huffed. "Or I could bite my own tail. We just told him off, now we're gonna ask for help?" he snapped.

"First, it was you who told him off," Jak clarified, "and second, this was your idea."

Daxter's expression clearly said "_fuck."_

Jak chuckled at him. "Don't look like you're the one who's going to have to deal with him, Dax."

"Wait, you're really gonna ask?" Daxter asked now, surprised.

Jak gave him an odd look. "You were expecting me not to?"

Daxter opened his mouth, then shut it. "Okay, you have a point."

Hardly believing he was actually going to do this, he sought out Kleiver. He ran into Sig along the way, but they were both busy, so they didn't have time to talk. Sig just shook his head about Kleiver's whereabouts, saying he didn't know anything about a kid Kleiver found.

Then, not so surprisingly, Jak spotted him -- not that he was hard to miss -- at the entrance, looking over the vehicles Jak had become familiar with.

He didn't want to have to do this, yet still, he _did_ want to know more about Sunni. Steeling his nerve, he approached Kleiver and announced himself.

Kleiver's expression upon seeing them earlier was mild compared to the look he gave them now. "What's this now?" he asked. "Seeing you once a day is more than enough, now ye find me twice?"

"I don't want to be here any more than you want me here," Jak bit out, "but I have a question for you."

"I don't like little boys," Kleiver answered sarcastically.

Biting back a groan, he tried to ignore that comment. "I want to know where you found Sunni."

"Oh, so that's it," Kleiver laughed. "Ah, but that doesn't sound anything like a question."

Jak set his jaw. He wasn't about to give in to that.

"Bah, if it'll be the end of ye," Kleiver started, "I'll tell ye. Ye know where we round up them lizards?"

"Yeah."

"About five minutes' drive east of there," Kleiver told him, "on this Dune Buggy." He patted the one. "Ye can't really miss it. There's a spring of water, about six cactus, and a mound of boulders."

"I'll find it," Jak said, deciding to end the conversation now. Checking the pouch on his hip yielded a palm-light, which he'd been hoping to remember bringing. He was probably going to need it -- along with his gun on his back, jet board and Daxter.

As soon as they were out of the doors, Daxter yelled obscenities to Kleiver. A few decidedly vile words later, and he huffed again. "Precursors, I _hate_ him."

"Everyone hates him," Jak agreed. "Now sit down right, you know how bumpy it gets out here."

"Yeah, yeah," Daxter sighed, returning to the correct position. Not a second too soon, either, given they hit a rock about then that sent two wheels in the air.

"Jaaaaaaaak!" Daxter yelled. "Geez, why'd do you that?!" he snapped once they were on four wheels again.

"Quit yelling," Jak told him. "You know I don't hit these things on purpose."

"We really need to have roads built out here," Daxter said.

"Yeah, that'll happen."

Finding the lizard pen, he made a sharp turn towards east and floored it. With the sun now almost entirely gone, he flipped a switch that turned on the headlights. Keeping their eyes open for the points Kleiver told them about, both he and Daxter expected something a bit harder to find than the mountainside in the distance.

"That's the 'mound of boulders?'" Daxter asked flatly.

"It's a lot smaller to someone like Kleiver," Jak laughed. "I guess that's it. We'll check it out anyway."

When they reached it, they found several cacti and a spring, like Kleiver described. Parking the vehicle and climbing out, they both looked around, keeping the headlights on as a source of light. Heading east, though only for a short while, had only helped the sun set faster.

Pulling the palm light from his pouch, he used it to help him see better. After a few minutes of searching while yielded nothing like a home, burrow or den, Jak was ready to give up. He was considering getting back in the buggy and heading back when Daxter got his attention.

"Lemme see that light," Daxter called, catching it when Jak tossed it to him. Aiming it upwards, he shined the light on the rock face. "Is it just me, or does that look like a cave to you?"

Coming over, Jak followed the beam of light. About twenty feet or so up, shadowed despite the light, appeared to be a cave. "It does," he agreed.

Handing the light back, Daxter started climbing up the rocks. "I'll check it out."

"Without the light?" Jak asked.

"I can't climb up while holding it," Daxter told him. "Toss it up when I reach the cave. Or," he added, annoyed, "shine it on the cave so I know where I'm going!"

With a laugh, Jak shined it up, though it took him a second to find the cave. Then Daxter peeked inside. Seeing only his tail wiggling about, Jak was a bit amused, though also a bit worried as Daxter spent more and more time looking inside. Then at last he popped his head back at and called down, "Jak, you have to see this."

Apparently, something interesting was in there. Not sure what to expect, he tossed the light up to Daxter and started climbing, though with considerable more difficulty. At last reaching the cave, he found that the entrance was much smaller than he'd assumed -- the perfect size for an ottsel.

"I don't think I can fit in there," Jak told him.

"You can fit your head in, can't you?" Daxter returned, diving in.

Okay, maybe it was a bit bigger than he could see in this light, but he'd rather not go exploring a dark hole after sunset. After a few moments in which he considered which option to take, he looked inside, figuring he just might be able to squeeze in there -- if there were a good reason to. And he could see light in there, but it didn't look quite like the palm light. . .

"Dax?" he called.

"You have to come down here."

He raised a brow. "Why, what's down there?"

"Besides a plenty big cave, you mean? Come see. Don't worry, there's a lot of room once you're inside."

He sighed. "Okay, I'm taking your word for it. This had better not be a trick."

Daxter was right, he learned soon enough. Going in feet first, he _could_ fit, and with room to spare. However, Daxter hadn't warned him about the ten foot drop following. Landing hard, he was fully prepared to make some threats about fur coats, but the words died before he could pick them out.

All around him, he could see Eco, some glowing bright, others dim. Red and Yellow Eco seemed to be drawn to one side of the cave, with Blue and Green on the other. To his surprise, there was also Light Eco, amidst the Blue and Green. Even as he had to marvel at how they glowed, he wondered how this cave hadn't been found before. There didn't even seem to be life down here, not a single plant.

"That would explain it," he said to himself when he turned to see the rest of the cave. On the opposite side of the hole was Dark Eco -- toxic to everything. Except himself, of course, but he was a special case.

"Would explain what?" Daxter asked.

"There's Dark Eco over here," Jak answered him. "So of course life would stay away."

"But there's Light Eco on this side," Daxter argued.

"Yeah, I know." He was puzzled about this; all six known types of Eco, in the same cave. He wondered how long it's existed here. With Dark Eco staving off life, it could have been for a great long time.

"Jak."

He glanced over at Daxter, who was now shining the light on a bit of Red Eco -- on the wrong side of the cave. Only it wasn't glowing? "What is it?"

Daxter stepped closer to it, so Jak followed. And upon better inspection, it was a pile of clothing. Which, he noted, was stained with a lot of blood. The dirt around had dried puddles of it, too. Like something had come in here and died. . .

"Do you think Sunni came here?" he wondered aloud. It would explain the clothes, and her scar.

"Well," Daxter started, picking up one of the bits of cloth, "if this isn't a little girl's shirt. . ."

"Let me see the light," Jak said now, reaching out for it. Shining the light all around, he took a better look at the whole of the cave. It was no higher at any point, it seemed, than the entrance. But it was certainly deep, sloping downwards. He took a few steps closer to the end of the cave, towards the collection of Light Eco.

"Whoa, did you see that?" Daxter asked, coming up beside him.

"What?"

"Shine the light over there again," Daxter pointed at the Light Eco.

Doing so, he saw what Daxter had -- the Light Eco glowed brighter, and it seemed to have nothing to do with reflections. "It's responding?" he voiced his thoughts.

"This is amazing!" Daxter yelled suddenly, throwing his arms in the air. "This place is -- it's one of a kind!"

"So is that," Jak said almost to himself. In Daxter's flailing, his hand still holding the blood-stained shirt had gotten closer to the Light Eco, and he could swear the blood had lightened in a way that had nothing to do with the light itself.

Daxter seemed to notice it at about the same time. And then, without conversing, it seemed they had the same idea. Daxter lifted the shirt higher, towards the Light Eco. Then, very abruptly, the Eco seemed to get a bit brighter, then shot towards the shirt and disappeared into the bloodstain.

Daxter dropped the shirt.

Recovering a piece of his stunned mind, Jak tried to make sense of it. "Well, there've been Eco-sensitive people before. I mean, look at me."

"Yeah, but Sunni ain't a human," Daxter argued.

They were thinking the same thing again, Jak could tell. Sunni was definitely becoming more interesting with everything they found out, because everything they found out only spawned more questions. If nothing else, she was certainly the most unique person in existence. Now the question remained if they should tell everyone what they found, or simply return with the bloody clothes.


	5. Her Past

_**Disclaimer: **__Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ Please oh please don't think I'm lying.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_Five: Her Past_

Upon returning to Spargus, Jak and Daxter learned that Keira had gotten tired of waiting for them. She, Sunni and Pecker had all gone back to Haven. Sunni's clothes were now packed into Jak's pouch, since he hadn't taken a backpack with him. Hopping aboard the transit, they were both silent, having decided that they shouldn't involve the Eco Cave in today's explanation.

The clothes were enough, he supposed. And damn but they were small. They would be able to fit Tess, making Jak seriously wonder about Sunni's size. Not to mention they were the type of clothes you put together quickly and haphazardly, meaning she had to have been extremely poor. He couldn't imagine such a young child making clothes herself, so that left the options of having family who made them for her, or she found or stole them.

The slash on the back of the shirt kept him worried throughout the trip, almost more so than the blood and how the Eco reacted to it. He had only seen Sunni's back partially, saw only a fraction of the scar, but now he had proof of just how bad the wound had been. If the shirt's condition was any indication, then it was the type that should have killed a child. How she survived he could only imagine being because of the Light and Green Eco in the cave.

She had probably gone there with the animal instinct of finding a secluded place to die, he realized. And with that thought came a rush of anger at who or whatever inflicted that wound upon her. Now he had questions that needed answers, regardless of Sunni's willingness. Everyone had been kind and patient with her, from the very beginning. Nobody bothered asking her questions directly, not about her past or even her thoughts.

That had to change. Now that she was speaking fairly easily, he had a chance to get those answers he was seeking. Precursors willing, she would be able to remember.

The two of them found Sunni quickly, knowing she'd be with Keira in the garage. Since she had an official room here now, this was where she spent most of her time. Keira, too, since the garage was her "base."

"Welcome back," Keira said to them as they entered, though her tone was a bit unhappy.

"Yeah," Jak sighed, knowing he was in trouble already. Even so, that wasn't why he was here. Going over to where Sunni sat beside Keira, he picked her up and walked across the room to the sofa. Setting her down there, he sat beside her, Daxter taking up a post on her other side. They had Keira's attention now, just as much as they had Sunni's.

Pulling out her clothes, he held them out and started. "Are these yours, Sunni?"

She stared at them, wide-eyed. Reaching out, she took them, laying them on her lap. Touching the shirt's stain particularly, he took that as a "yes."

"Are they?" Daxter prodded, though infinitely more gently than he generally spoke.

Sunni's jaw clenched, but she nodded. "I think so. Yes."

"This tear," Jak said now, pointing it out. "It goes along with your scar, doesn't it?"

Keira was with them now, looking over the back of the sofa.

Sunni gave another nod. But as she didn't answer this time, Jak went on.

"I want you to tell me how it happened."

She frowned. Shaking her head, it was as though she had forgotten how to speak all over again.

"Sunni, please," Keira said softly. "We want to know more about you. I've told you this before."

When she didn't make a move nor a sound, Daxter cuddled up to her. Like some kind of stuffed animal, she hugged him, and it seemed to work in comforting her. It was reminiscent of earlier today, only now, Sunni was close to tears and everyone had a solemn expression.

With another prod from Keira, she started telling the story. She didn't have a grasp of time, but it was a while before Kleiver had found her, she said.

"I was alone for a long time. It was hard. I saw a big, big flying ship in the wasteland on day. There were things moving around inside, so I went to look. Everything there had a forehead that glowed. I thought they would be nice to me, so I went to see them."

Mentally, Jak flinched. She was talking about metalheads, and thinking they were friends.

"They didn't. . .like me very much. They had big sticks they kept swinging at me, so I ran away. One of them. . ." She paused there, shaking her head again.

"Sunni, this is important to us," Keira started, touching her shoulder. "Was it that one who gave you the scar?"

She mumbled something, but with a low voice like that, nobody understood her.

"What did you say?" Jak asked, hoping he didn't sound pushy.

She looked up then, sharply. "I said I don't wanna talk about it anymore!" she shrieked. Letting go of Daxter, she dashed away from them. At first Jak wasn't too worried, thinking she'd head to her room -- but she headed for the door. Getting up, all three chased after her, much like how they'd done this morning.

And somehow, she disappeared completely. For a moment, standing just outside the door, all three looked everywhere to spot her, but she wasn't in sight.

"Did she just. . ?" Daxter started.

"Disappear," Jak finished.

"Oh, no," Keira said, clearly the most worried.

"She'll come back," Jak promised her.

She shook her head. "I know she can find her way back, but what's to keep her from getting in trouble along the way?"

"Well," Daxter offered, "look at quick she is. If none of us can keep up with her, how could anyone else?"

Though she just shook her head again, Jak could tell she was trying to believe it. "I'll go looking for her," he told Keira.

She glanced up with a kind of thankful smile now. She didn't say anything, but she did kiss him sweetly before turning around and going back inside. He was happy about the kiss, yet at the same time, he was starting to really understand just how much Keira loved having Sunni around.

Kind of like a mother.

He gave himself a mental slap for that, instead choosing to look down at where Daxter stood, apparently deep in thought. "So, do we split up?" he suggested.

From the grin he was greeted with, Daxter had been thinking something along those lines. "I'm a better climber," Daxter started, "so I'll look around from above."

"Like I can't get higher on my jet board?" Jak asked, giving Daxter a skeptical look.

"See ya, bud," Daxter answered, loping off.

Jak took one more glance around, trying to think where Sunni would go. Somewhere familiar, he decided. Somewhere that probably had someone she knew, someplace that would offer her comfort. All signs pointed directly to her room, but he also knew that right now, that would be her second choice, rather than first.

Making her go. . .where?

Besides the garage, the only other place she knew well was the new command center, not far from where the Baron's tower had once stood. They had taken Sunni there many times, by foot and by vehicle -- so she had to know the way.

Flipping out the jet board he kept with him almost all the time, he hopped on it and headed that way. Thinking of Sunni led his thoughts to some of the time he'd spent with her alone, which he knew everyone had at some point. And he found himself smiling about it, too; he'd taken Sunni on the jet board with him more than once before. She absolutely loved it.

And oddly enough, she always chose a place either clinging to him somehow or on the board itself, around his feet, that never took up Daxter's spot. Out of challenge itself, via Daxter's ideas, Jak had even managed several tricks with Sunni there. She had a habit of finding some part of him to hold onto -- usually his leg -- that didn't impede the trick nor threaten any part of him with searing pain. It was odd to think of, but still rather impressive.

Now he thought that perhaps he could convince her to come back with him if he offered her a trip on the jet board. That is, once he found her.

Lucky for him, most people recognized him coming, more so when he was on the jet board. They skirted out of his way, though granted he still had to launch over some slower citizens. Every so often he got a shaking fist or savage word in his direction, but more people looked amused than disgruntled.

When he reached the command center, he still had to pull out a card to gain access to the door. Although by now he was good enough at it that he didn't need to get off the jet board to do it, given the card scanner was at the bottom of the stairs and the doors were at the top. A swipe opened the door, then he was gliding up the stairs and through the door. He kept this up down the hall, at last hopping off the jet board and putting it away before he collided with the second set of doors.

Entering, he saw that Ashelin and Torn were both here, talking to each other from opposite sides of a circular map -- a replica of the one in the previous command center. Ashelin was standing, and greeted Jak with a wave. Torn, on the other hand, was sitting in a chair, and chose only to lift his hand in a half-wave. The chair he was sitting in, Jak noted, seemed to have a tail.

He pointed at it. "Sunni?" he asked.

Torn gave a snort. "Is there a reason she ran all the way here?"

"I'm more interested in how she got in without a card," Jak answered.

"Through the vents," Ashelin told him. "As for her being here. . ?"

"Good question," he said to himself. Louder, he started, "I guess she wanted to be somewhere else."

Torn definitely looked uncomfortable, Jak noted. But of course, he was sharing his seat with a curled up girl, stuck between him and the back of the chair. Jak wondered how she'd not only managed to squeeze in there, yet also didn't cause Torn to simply relinquish his seat.

Maybe he had much more of a soft spot for Sunni than everyone assumed. Or maybe he wasn't bothered enough by her presence to move. Either way, he got up now, picking up Sunni and setting her on the floor before taking his chair back. Sunni gave him a hurt look that would have melted chocolate, except that Torn was made of tougher stuff.

Coming a bit closer, Jak knelt and opened his arms. "C'mon, Sunni," he ordered.

Looking his way, she screwed up her face and stuck out her tongue.

Exasperated, he dropped his arms. "Sunni," he said again, with more warning in his tone.

She glared at him in a way that said "no."

Well, he supposed, she _did_ have reason to not want to return. Pulling out his jet board again, he held it up so she could see it. "If you come back, we can play on the jet board."

Her eyes lit up for a second, and for that second, he thought he had her. And then she narrowed her eyes again. Cursing mentally, he just about threw the jet board at her, since it was the thing in his hands at the moment.

"Sunni," he said louder than before, "you know you can't stay here all night."

"I'll come back when I'm ready," she snapped back.

A small amount of rage bubbled under his skin, making him narrow his eyes. "How about you'll come back now."

She sneered. "No way!"

He blew out a sigh, though it was more like a huff. "Why'd you come _here_ anyway?"

"I don't wanna talk about it anymore," she said smartly, like he should've figured it out by now.

"Okay, but why did you come _here_?" he repeated. "Why go to Torn?"

"Torn never makes me talk," she answered, looking at Jak like he was slow.

He glanced up at Torn, who -- despite talking to Ashelin -- had his eyes on Sunni at the moment. Okay, Jak could see that. It was true that Torn had never tried to get Sunni talking in the past, yet everyone else asks her questions.

"Sunni," Ashelin said now, getting her attention. "Why don't you go back? There's nothing for you to play with here."

Sunni frowned at her. "I don't play _all_ the time."

"Alright," Torn told her, "then why don't help us plan a strategy to fortify the outer defenses without having to deplete the inner forces?"

She looked confused. Then she gave Torn a glare that looked out of place on her face. She replied, "Why don't you go blow yourself?"

Eyes went wide all around, and Jak decided that now would be a great time to take her away before she got into more trouble. With her attention stuck to Torn, it was easy to sneak up and snatch her, holding her close so she couldn't get away.

"Did she just tell me to blow myself?!" Torn snapped, disbelief written on his face.

"Where did she learn that?" Ashelin asked, totally dumbfounded.

"Daxter," Jak answered. "And I thought," he said to Sunni directly, "that Keira told you not to say it again?"

Sunni was wriggling, trying to get free, and now looked put out. "But it worked before, right? That big man left."

"Big man?" Ashelin echoed.

"Kleiver," Jak said to her. "We visited Spargus earlier. And, well, had a conversation with Kleiver."

"And Daxter told him to blow himself?" Torn finished.

"Then Keira told him to choke on it," Jak agreed, smiling with satisfaction.

Ashelin's brows went up. "_Keira_ told him that?"

"It was great," Jak grinned. Clearing his throat, he gave Sunni a deep frown. "Until Sunni decided not to listen."

"You're the one who wanted to know about my past," Sunni shot back.

"You remember something?" Ashelin asked her.

Sunni immediately skirted the question by hiding her face in Jak's shirt.

"Nothing she likes retelling," Jak said to Ashelin. "Uh, forget we were here?"

"Bye," Torn told him.

Rolling his eyes, Jak turned to leave, picking up his jet board as he went. Ashelin said goodbye a bit friendlier, and then he had a complacent Sunni holding onto him as he hopped back on the jet board. Her giggles rang out with every trick he did, from simple to complicated. Perhaps it was her animal side, but she loved athletics so much that he couldn't imagine her ever gaining the slightest bit of fat.

He took the long way back, just to make sure Sunni had no complaints by the time he made it to the garage. She pouted heavily when he put the board away, but otherwise didn't fight him. She was on his shoulders when he went inside, reminding him of Daxter a bit too much. She only stayed there a moment, however, when she saw Keira and abandoned him for her.

And Keira hugged her like Sunni was her own daughter. For a moment Jak stood off to the side, a little uncomfortable with Keira's show of affection towards a child not her own. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, though, replacing them with the questions he'd had to forget about in order to search for Sunni in the first place. She definitely remembered _something,_ the problem was knowing just how much.

It wasn't hard for him to believe that Sunni's memories only went back three years; everything about her seemed to prove that point. It even added up with Samos' mention that the desert only knew of Sunni starting three years ago. It could be that, because of her looks, she was abandoned after birth.

Which Keira would argue with, of course. He knew her well enough to know that Keira would protest that way of thinking, likely because she would imagine Sunni being unbearably cute as a baby. Even so, Jak himself was well aware just how untrusting and prejudiced people could be, having had it pointed at himself numerous times. Despite proving himself over and over, and having peak control of himself, there were still people who hated him for the sake of hating him.

It wasn't hard for him to imagine Sunni having gone through that. But that was just a theory on his part; only Sunni could answer the questions of her own past. If she couldn't remember, then he figured they'd just have to try and help her to whatever extent she wanted aid. Maybe when she was a bit older, it would come back to her, or if he took her back to that Eco cave. . .

But of course, Keira would protest to that, as well. Nobody wanted to keep Sunni around and unharmed more than Keira did. It was why Jak vowed to never tell Keira about what the Precursors suggested, regarding discovering Sunni's heritage. Perhaps, he thought now, they would just have to wait for Sunni to find the answers herself.

It seemed the most effective course, as well as the least harmful. With that in mind, he decided he wouldn't press the issue again, unless he absolutely had to. He didn't want to lose Sunni any more than Keira did.


	6. Growing Together

**Disclaimer: **_Jak _is owned by _Naughty Dog_. I am not making any profits from this fanfiction or any others. Please oh please don't think I'm lying.

**Jak5: Strange Existence**

_Six: Growing Together_

Sunni went through a growth spurt that stunned most everyone, so that by age fourteen, she was above Jak's waist. At eleven, even if she stood on her ottsel-like toes, she was barely as tall as his hip; that certainly had changed. With a few more years, growing like that, it wouldn't be surprising that she reach Keira's height. And she was only getting more energetic with each week, at that.

She borrowed Jak's jet board enough times that Keira fashioned a second, slightly smaller one for Sunni so she wouldn't have to anymore. Taking leads from Jak, it wasn't hard for her to master using the board. At the same time, she had a tendency to chase Daxter and Tess around, only losing them where weight became a factor. Her size shaved down how nimble she was, so it became easy for Daxter to taunt her, only to never get caught.

She was much more outspoken now, too. Her sentences were no longer partial or mixed up; she was clever enough to talk back to Torn these days. Granted she never won the argument, but she could keep it up for a little while. Ashelin and Keira were both acting as a kind of mother pairing to her, more so than anyone else. It wasn't surprising that Keira did so; however, nobody expected to see the day when Ashelin came by just to see Sunni.

This was explained in the middle of Sunni's fourteenth year when they discovered Ashelin was pregnant. And for all his standoffishness, Torn went braindead for almost a day once he found out. Ashelin's pregnancy was a huge source of interest for Sunni in particular, and they started spending a lot of time together. Once Sunni learned how sensitive pregnant women were, she became almost a slave for Ashelin, getting the older woman whatever she wanted as quickly as possible.

Torn remarked how Ashelin should've gotten pregnant sooner, if it caused Sunni to be so agreeable. Ashelin shot back that it was all his fault, when she got pregnant, and abruptly won the argument.

Today was no different from the previous weeks, Sunni leaving early to be with Ashelin. Keira barely got her to take a bread roll with her, and then she was out the door right as Jak was coming in. He said goodbye to Sunni, then turned to Keira. "How do you always get here so early?" he asked.

Keira gave him a smirk. "Are you surprised that I can get out of bed without waking you every morning?"

He hugged her to him with a matching grin. "Oh, you always manage to wake part of me, at least." She rolled her eyes. "I'm just surprised you can get out of bed, shower, get dressed, and make it here before I can even stumble out of bed."

"Don't tell me you're complaining now," she teased. "It's you who can't keep your hands off of me, if you recall."

"I recall," he replied, mischief running through his mind. He glanced around, noting the few vehicles in here that Keira still worked on from time to time. "Remember how much fun we had with the Dragonfly X?"

She blushed, still partially innocent at heart. "Geez, you love to bring that up, don't you?"

"Oh come on, you enjoyed it."

She wriggled in his arms, trying to get free. He was tempted to let her, but on the other hand, he'd rather keep her right where she was. He held her tighter, then planted a kiss on her lips that halted her squirming. She gave a little moan, he relaxed his grip a little, and then he was stumbling back and she darted behind her workbench. Catching himself, he sent her a halfhearted glare.

"So you wanna play, is that it?" he asked, throwing a smile at her.

She tilted her head. "I play with wrenches," she offered, lifting one.

He glanced away. "Yes, well. . .I didn't quite like that game the last time we played it."

She snickered. "Seriously, though. It sounded like you had a real point this time, Jak." She set the wrench down and pinned him with a serious look that was too cute on her face.

He blew out a sigh, not really willing to go into detail about the things he'd thought about this morning. He saw, more often than he enjoyed, how often Keira gave Ashelin looks of longing. But rather than mention it, he decided to talk about the same thing that'd been bothering him for the past three years.

"Sunni," he said simply.

Keira's look saddened a bit. "I know her really well, Jak. If she remembered anything, she'd tell me. And I'd tell you. You can't push the matter."

"I know that," he snapped a little too quick. "My problem is how long this is taking her. I can only help her so much without knowing anything."

"Don't you think you're helping her plenty just by being here?" she shot back. "She trusts you, Jak; maybe more than she trusts me. Let her discover her past by herself."

He sighed again, knowing full well he wasn't going to win this battle. Keira had her mind made up, and wasn't going to give him leeway. "Alright," he agreed, though with difficulty. "It's just driving me crazy that I don't know why she. . ." He trailed off, not sure what he wanted to say.

". . .Why she got that scar?" Keira finished for him. She looked down at her table. "That worries me, too." Looking up again, she said more firmly, "But I think she's doing fine."

After a long moment, he nodded. "She's certainly growing," he laughed.

She smiled. "She's going to be taller than you soon," she teased.

"I doubt it," he shot back.

She giggled to herself. "So," she started, giving him a skeptical look, "was there anything else you wanted?"

He gave her a puzzled expression. "What makes you think I had something else in mind?"

"Because, for one," she answered, "you didn't say, 'Besides you?' like you normally would. And two, you've brought up Sunni's past many times before. It isn't enough of a new subject to make you come all the way over here just to talk about it."

Damn, she knew him too well. Still, he had the options to either come clean, or turn tail and run. He gave her a wave and ducked out the door as a wrench hit the wall beside him, barely dodging a second that came flying out the door as it shut. Either she was getting worse at aiming, he thought, or she wasn't trying to hit him anymore.

Giving a whistle, he hopped on his jet board and decided to take a spin around the city, since there wasn't much else to do these days. The city's fortification was practically flawless, unlike how it was years ago when Jak managed to bypass everything. Leaving the defenses to Torn and Ashelin had been a smart move. This meant there was little need to go outside the walls any longer; most everything that had tried to get in once before had decided it was a useless endeavor about a year ago. The last attack on the city had been several months prior.

Every so often, Jak still visited Spargus, partially because he felt responsible for it. He used to go with the excuse of hunting metalheads, trying to keep his heritage a bit of a secret even now. Soon, however, he was going to have to own up to the fact that he was the heir to both Haven and Spargus City. It was weird to think of it like that, but his father had ruled Haven once, then Spargus later; by blood, Jak ruled both. Unless he chose to give up one or the other to someone else.

There was worry going through Spargus, had been since Damas died. But in Haven, it was difficult; since Praxas had died, the council members under him had began fighting amongst themselves, if quietly, for power. Veager was an example of this, though granted his entire plan had backfired horribly. To prevent any further bad moves, for either city, he was going to have to make a decision, soon.

He supposed he could leave Haven to Ashelin, and instead try to lead Spargus. But he knew Haven's city workings so much better than Spargus', that might be the wrong move. Perhaps he could leave Spargus to Sig, then; the older man certainly knew the desert well. And it would help get Kleiver to behave, or so he hoped.

That would be for the best, he agreed with himself, launching over another group of citizens. Sig would be an excellent leader for Spargus, far better than Jak could ever be. As for Haven, he was thinking that Ashelin might not be the best of leaders. She was smart, quick-witted and tough, but that wasn't the same as leadership ability. She was best as a general, like how Torn was best at intelligence and planning.

Jak paused then, a scenario entering his mind. He stood still for a moment, holding the jet board in one hand as he went over the pros and cons becoming clear. It was such an obvious option in his head now: they already had a perfect leadership team around. Jak had the muscle and skill to pull off brilliant plans Torn came up with, Sig offered priceless experience and advice, and Ashelin was always right there with the kind of help you needed at that exact moment. Daxter was perfect to do things that required a smaller, nimbler body, and Keira and Tess together could fashion weapons and mechanical objects that were of endless help. Even Samos, Orrin and Pecker added wisdom and communication at times when it was needed.

Together, they brought down Praxas, protected the city from countless metalheads, cured a portion of the city that was overrun with toxins, kept Spargus safe from wastelanders, and somehow kept the entire economy from collapsing. That was a lot from any one era to accomplish, yet a handful of people had done so. And as he kept thinking, more names were brought up to the surface who also deserved recognition, who had aided somehow.

It was too genius. How he hadn't thought of it before, he didn't know; perhaps it had something to do with having to watch over Sunni so often. And now that he thought about it, he wondered where Daxter was these days. Probably with Tess; there was no question about that. Were they still living above the gun range?

That was when it hit Jak that he didn't know much about Daxter anymore. They'd been best friends for as long as he could remember, and now that they both had a girlfriend, they hardly spent time together. Perhaps it was time to have an unscheduled visit to his old friend.

- - - - -

It took a whole three days for everyone to hear his idea and then pin the council down in politics -- another of Torn's plans that was practically a battle tactic and worked perfectly in this situation. Ashelin had the strongest voice of them all in such an arena, probably from having been around her father when he had to charm the council as well. Even so obviously pregnant, she was imposing, not a hint of weakness about her.

Samos aided by pointing out the wisdom of the things she said, but it seemed that even without his help, the council was swayed. Everyone except Sig, Ashelin and Samos was part of the audience, as Sig was doing his part in Spargus with another of Torn's plans. The council adjourned to discuss amongst themselves after an hour of talking, an hour in which Torn never took his eyes off Ashelin. As she was nearing the end of her third trimester, every day became a potential birth for the child, and despite all his levelheaded state of mind, Torn was obviously stressed about it.

Once the council was out of the room, Sunni launched over the stout fence barring the audience from everyone else, and promptly sat on the table Ashelin sat before. "So," Sunni started, "do you think you got 'em?"

Ashelin smiled at her. "They know better than to oppose me."

"Everybody keeps saying that, but nobody's telling me what it means," Sunni pouted.

Ashelin gave a laugh. "My father used to rule the city. It wasn't very long, but we both learned a lot about politics in that time. Given how easily my father swayed them, I don't think the council is going to fight me."

"I brought your pistol," Torn threw in, "just in case."

That just made Ashelin laugh again. She threw him a look that was clearly the expression of a person content in their life, and both Keira and Tess gave a longing sigh at the look. Torn, on the other hand, quickly looked away. Jak couldn't blame him.

The council didn't deliberate long, as they came back within twenty minutes. Sunni relinquished her seat to hop back over the fence obligingly, as the council members all gave her unhappy and disappointed looks. None of them accepted Sunni much more than they accepted Jak, but given everyone who was looking after her, they couldn't press the issue, legally or otherwise.

And with a great amount of discomfort, they agreed to Ashelin's proposal, to allow the city to be ruled under a team rather than one person. However, in doing so, they were also agreeing to essentially give up their parts in the city's future, only remaining a council when asked by any one of Jak's team to converge. Which no one had any real intention of doing. Should the team idea fail, however, the city's fate rested back in the council's hands.

Apparently they were hoping to remain voices that were heard, regardless of whether or not they were called for advice. Everyone held onto their reserve until they were out of the building, before praises and cheers of various volumes went between them. Pecker, Daxter and Sunni were the most outspoken, especially towards each other.

"I can't believe it," Sunni was saying, "they looked so angry!"

"I know, I know!" Daxter added. "Ashe totally beat 'em down!"

"Braaaaawk, I never had a doubt," Pecker threw in.

"Oh, settle down," Keira chided them.

"I'm gonna take off," Sunni told them. With a wave she was flipping out her jet board from its holster on her hip.

"To where?" Ashelin asked. "I'm starting to wonder if you met a boy."

"Boy?" Jak echoed, an unhappy feeling settling in his lower stomach.

Sunni paused, then shuffled one of her feet. "Well, he's been nice. . ."

"You met a boy?" Keira asked, surprised.

Jak saw red for a second, before he managed to get a reign on his where his head was going. Ashelin was already speaking, too. "For a couple weeks now, she's only visited me for a little while, then ran off."

Sunni gave her a hard look. "And I asked you not to say anything."

"Who is this boy?" Keira asked, turning Sunni to face her.

"Yeah, who's this boy?" Jak added, eyes narrowing. He didn't like the idea of a boy showing interest in Sunni.

Sunni pursed her lips. "Jerro, and he's plenty nice," she tried. "He likes that I'm different from everyone else."

Daxter had been giving Sunni a piercing look which mirrored Jak's own, and now he glanced over at Jak. Noticing his friend's stare, Jak looked back at him for a second, realizing that neither of them were happy with this. Trying to be discreet, Jak gave a small nod which he hoped only Daxter would see.

"Well. . ." Keira answered, looking torn. She didn't seem to know what to say.

"Pfft," Torn interrupted their thoughts. "Bring him to see us, or take us to him, and we'll see how nice he really is."

"I second that," Jak all but blurted.

"No, you guys!" Sunni half-whined. "You'll just make him leave, and then I won't have any friends anymore!"

"You'll have us," Daxter pointed out.

Sunni pouted. "Well, excuse me for wanting a bit more than that! I'm leaving!" she snapped, throwing her jet board on the ground and promptly jumping on it. Within seconds she had plenty of distance between them, and then rounded a corner.

"Don't do it, Daxter," Tess warned, apparently having noticed the looks exchanged between the best friends earlier. But she was too late; Daxter was already sprinting after Sunni. "Dax!!" she snapped, then huffed.

Keira looked uncomfortable now, and gave Ashelin a look of almost motherly worry. Ashelin returned it with a slight shrug, as though she were trying to say, "She has to grow up sometime."

Jak was already pulling out his own jet board, glad he chose today of all days to make sure he had it.

"Jak, you too?" Keira asked, distraught. "You're going to drive her away."

"Not quite," Jak answered, giving her a grin. "I'm going to drive 'Jerro' away. Don't wait up."

He was off even as Keira was still trying to form some sort of reply, and as he fell out of earshot, he heard Torn say, "I was thinking of going with 'em."

But of course, Torn was feeling that fatherly protectiveness these days, even if he hadn't until Ashelin became pregnant. It was only natural for him, who was soon to be a father, to want to protect someone. Other than Ashelin herself, right now the only person Torn himself could protect was Sunni.

Just like Jak and Daxter both. All three of them wanted to keep Sunni out of danger these days, perhaps more so now that they know she's been seeing a boy. That thought alone kept Jak focused totally and completely on trailing Daxter, who wasn't far behind Sunni. They were going to find this boy and have a. . . "talk" with him. If the boy left with a few years shaved off his life, that would be his own fault, surely.


	7. A New Addition

**Disclaimer: **_Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_Seven: A New Addition_

Jak had to admit, shaking down that Jerro boy had been damn fun. Though most people tended to underestimate Daxter, the ottsel had definitely managed such a bravado that it had gotten to Jerro. In all technicality, they had found Sunni meet the boy, spend some time with him, give him a warning that her family had found out -- and being referred to as "family" warmed Jak from the inside, and likely had to Daxter too -- and then she had gone. She didn't spot them once, not even in leaving.

Then Jerro was all theirs. Though he was dressed as simply as the other citizens, he had blue hair and yellow eyes. And Jak didn't like the way the boy's eyes were narrowed.

Confronting the boy had been simple. Jak simply walked out, feigned innocence and said, "Ah, excuse me. You're Jerro, aren't you?" When Jerro answered affirmatively, Jak cracked his knuckles. "Good," he'd said.

Jerro had visibly paled. "W-wait, then you're. . ?" he stuttered.

"Consider me Sunni's. . .highly over-protective father," Jak told him. "Now imagine what I'm about to do to you."

Jerro had turned to run right about then, but that's where Daxter had come in. With a dive and a slide, he successfully tripped the boy, who landed a bit too heavily on his elbow. Jak hauled him to his feet, and more or less dragged him into a covered crevice between two buildings -- which didn't offer too much shelter from gazes, but did its effect in scaring the boy further. Daxter took his appointed place on Jak's shoulder while Jerro tried to shrink farther into the crevice, only to hit a wall. With a gulp, he'd said, "Look, I don't want to cause Sunni any harm!"

"I think I'll be the one deciding that," Jak corrected. "So tell me, what's your full name, how old are you, and what do you do for a living?"

The boy was clearly shaking. He replied, "Jerro Firthix. I'm sixteen. I-I help my dad in his machine shop."

"Well, Jerro Firthix, I sincerely hope you're not thinking of impressing Sunni by taking her there."

Jerro was confused more than obviously. "What does that mean?"

"Well, Sunni's used to being in machine shops, garages and such. I'll bet she knows how to put together an engine made from scratch at this point."

For a split second, Jerro narrowed his eyes, as though unpleased with his discovery. Then he shook his head sharply, but Jak had already seen more than he needed to. The boy snapped back, "I -- wouldn't try that anyway," he tried to deny. "I don't think of her like that."

"Really," Jak replied dryly. "I don't remember throwing any guesses about what you were thinking."

"Well it's -- that is --"

"This is the part," Daxter threw in, "where you start picking what you say _very_ carefully. If we find out you hurt Sunni in any way, well. . . It won't be quite as pleasant for you."

Jerro looked away, mumbling something to himself. Wanting to know what he said, Jak reached for him, but surprisingly, Jerro tried to dart back towards the road. It was a sad attempt; no matter how fast that boy thought he was, he was still no match for someone as well-trained as Jak. He grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt and slammed him back against the wall, choosing not to let go of the fist of cloth in his hand.

"Damn it, just let me go!" Jerro snapped. He was starting to sound desperate. "You can't do this, you know! I'll report it to the council!"

But of course, the news of the council's decision hadn't spread yet. Jak gave the boy a sly smile. "Actually, I can. The council relinquished their positions as leaders, and now I'm one of the rulers of this city. If I'm using too many big words, let me know. I want you to understand this part."

Jerro grit his teeth. "I don't believe you."

"I don't believe _you_ either," Jak told him. Getting a bit closer, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "I don't think you have any 'clean' thoughts about Sunni. I don't think you're anything but a scoundrel. And I don't think you'd ever get away with hurting her."

"In this city," Daxter growled, "the two of _us_ are biggest, baddest, strongest, smartest bastards there is. You'd be a very smart kid to listen to us."

"I don't have to take this shit from you!" Jerro yelled, almost shrieking. His eyes had gotten whiter, a clear give-away about how scared he was, even as he kept bluffing. "You guys ain't the boss of me!"

"Bosses? No," Jak agreed.

"But we could still fuck you up," Daxter finished. "You gotta learn, kid, just who has power and who doesn't. Right now, you're a bug about to be squashed by a pair of giants."

Jerro was struggling at this point. Fighting with Jak's hand, even as the grip was like steel. "Shit, you stupid bastards! I'll be telling Sunni about this, and then she'll leave you, how's that?!"

"Another empty threat," Jak said, dismissing the boy's claim. "Would Sunni sooner believe a boy she barely knows over her father, who's only looking out for her safety? You've really got no brains for a kid who works in a machine shop."

"Fuck, let me go!" he snapped again.

Jak dropped him, not realizing until now that he'd been steadily lifting the boy higher, until his feet had dangled off the ground. As soon as he was back on his feet, Jerro was gone, probably running faster than any time before in his life.

Jak and Daxter gave each other satisfied smirks before the former got back on his jet board to head back to the garage, which is likely where everyone else were. And even on the way back, his thoughts were occupied to the point where he didn't notice entirely what he was doing. He'd called himself Sunni's father, and more than once, concerning that boy. Though in the past he might've claimed it was just an act to frighten Jerro, he knew better now. Of course he'd see himself as Sunni's father, after three years of watching out for her like one.

The thing that bothered him now was how Sunni saw him -- she called Keira and Jak both by their names, just like she did everyone else. "Mother" and "father" weren't words they'd ever tried to make her use. If anything, she probably saw everyone as siblings. Maybe it was because of her small stature that made him think in weird ways. Being fourteen and being average height for a ten-year-old made her fairly short.

A ten-year-old, he amended, who was starting to get a young woman's curves. That very fact infuriated him to no end; he couldn't help but worry more now than before. When she was small and fragile, his concerns were always offset by the fact that no one could keep up with her -- that, and she had a tendency to melt the hearts of just about everyone. Now that she was a bit bigger, despite being much smarter and having a stronger grasp on logic, he found himself stressed by the very thought of. . ._boys_.

The only thing that kept him from forbidding Sunni to even _look_ at boys was the fact that he knew Sunni and Keira both would find some way of punishing him for it. In the end, he had to give up. He had no choice but to hope Sunni was smart enough to deal with boys herself.

And certainly, he added mentally, scaring the wits out of Jerro would help to that end. He found himself grinning just thinking about it.

- - - - -

On second thought, threatening Jerro hadn't helped matters any.

Sunni was furious when Jerro told her; she was indignant, unbelieving and even a bit hurt. She berated Jak as though she were the mother and he the misbehaving son. Keira sat back and laughed all the while, leaving Jak partially heartbroken when Sunni claimed she hated him now and would never speak to him again. She stormed off to her room, the door slamming loudly in the silence of the garage.

Keira came over to hug his shoulders from behind the couch. "Don't worry, she's just fuming. She'll forgive you."

"No I won't!" came her yell from down the hall.

Keira chuckled, but Jak was sitting perfectly still. Trepidation ran through him, fearing despite rationalities that she really did hate him. "What if she doesn't?" he asked, surprised that he was whispering.

Keira clucked her tongue. "You're worrying too much. I used to have fits like that, too, or did you forget?"

"You _still_ have fits like that," he told her, looking up to see her. "But you've never told me you hated me."

"Think of it this way," she countered, "you acted like a father, and now she's acting like a daughter. I used to tell Daddy I hated him a lot, though I never meant it." She was smiling.

Jak frowned as he thought about it. "You told Samos you hated him?" He couldn't figure that happening.

She laughed. "Yeah, whenever he tried to be really protective. It just clashes with a teenage girl's need for independence; so don't worry. She'll come around."

"No I won't!" Sunni called a second time.

". . .And if she doesn't?" he asked quietly.

"She will," Keira promised, whispering to him so Sunni wouldn't hear.

- - - - -

As it turns out, no one had much time to think about Sunni's newfound interest in boys. Three weeks after the council declared their group the new leaders of Haven City, the long-awaited birth happened. Torn and Ashelin officially had a son, whom they named Davril.

Adorable though the baby was – a shock of thin red hair and pink cheeks were easily visible – he wasn't the center of attention for Jak. No, the majority of his attention was on Torn.

When Jak, Keira and Sunni showed up (Daxter and Tess already present), Ashelin was sitting upright in the bed, a clearly maternal expression gracing her features, holding her new son to her chest. And Torn was sitting behind her, arms around both Ashelin and Davril, his face hidden in her neck.

Jak could only imagine what the other man must be feeling, but given what he knew so far, one of the emotions must be embarrassment. Sure, Ashelin was cooing at the babe and Keira and Tess joined right in; that was fully expected. But Jak knew, were he in the same situation, it would be horribly embarrassing to be caught in the same position. Though amused, he allowed Torn to salvage his pride by leaving earlier than the girls.

Daxter was on the same train of thought, and the best part was that none of the women seemed to notice their departure.

It wasn't until the two were on their way to Jak's home that Jak thought of Sunni. With all the girlish sighs going around, he hadn't noticed that Sunni hadn't joined in until now. Thinking back on it, he could recall Sunni standing perfectly still, wide eyes on the newborn boy. And Jak had to wonder why her reaction seemed so fearful, as opposed to warm and fluffy. He mentioned this discovery to Daxter once they were comfortably inside the house, but the ottsel merely shrugged in question.

"I gave up trying to understand women back when I was still human," Dax told him.

Jak laughed. "Quitter," he chided jokingly.

Though Daxter made a few rude gestures in return, the mood remained light.

A few hours later, when the women showed up, everything seemed back to normal. Sunni was more than excited now, animated about just how adorable Davril was and how she'd love to hug him all the time. Perhaps, Jak thought, she had simply frozen in the moment from shock, some emotional strain she hadn't dealt with before. Maybe Keira and Tess had talked to her, helping her through whatever hesitation she'd had.

. . .That's what he thought at first, anyway. Over the next month or so, between visits to the new family and hearing how Ashelin and Torn had been planning a marriage but put it on hold because of her pregnancy, Jak noticed that Sunni's previous silent-spell wasn't a one-time thing. She seemed normal enough, most of the time. Yet every so often, if she were alone or no one was talking to her, she would get a faraway look and go very still.

He brought it up with Keira almost as soon as he noticed, hoping she would offer insight or a solution, but Keira just chuckled. "You _really_ don't get it," she said with a grin. "Sunni is fourteen. Her hormones are out of whack and she has to deal with it all the time. Give her time; she'll get over it."

He wanted to believe her. At least he was fairly certain the silent-spells weren't increasing. It appeared that, every so often, she just needed to think to herself. He supposed it was better than needing to talk to herself, instead.

And Sunni wasn't the only one moved by Davril's presence. Daxter complained a few times about Tess whining and cooing in turn about things Daxter didn't fully understand, but Jak had merely laughed at his friend and offered sanctuary. . .until Keira had brought it up, as well.

They had just gotten comfortable in his bed (and Keira had all but moved in because of all the time she'd been spending in his house rather than hers), he on his back and her cuddled against his side, when she said it.

". . .I want one."

At first he hadn't a clue what she was talking about, and then it hit him. In total shock, the most he could do was sputter for a minute. They'd had pregnancy scares twice in the past three years, and relief had been foremost when they found out she wasn't. He didn't think he was ready to be a real father, and neither did he think Keira had been considering it.

"Wait," he finally blurted, "you want one? You mean a baby?" He stared at her in disbelief.

"Why is that so surprising?" was her response. "You've seen Ashe with Davril. She's loving every second of it." With a pout, she went on, "I want to feel what she feels."

Jak blinked, finding the entire situation incomprehensible. "What. . ? We're not ready to be parents!"

"We've _been_ parents," she shot back, "to Sunni."

"That's not the same," he quipped. "A baby is not the same."

She narrowed her eyes. "How is it not the same? We had to teach Sunni everything – how to speak, how to act, how to use a toilet --"

"_It's not the same!_" he snapped. "Sunni was old enough to know these things, she just forgot how to! She was coordinated, she was smart, she was big enough to get things herself, hell, she'd been fending for herself in the desert for three years!"

He saw tears well up in Keira's eyes and immediately felt like a bastard. "So that's it, is it?" she said, voice wavering. "You don't want any children."

He groaned, unwilling to be made out as the bad guy. "That's not what I meant, Keira."

"It's starting to sound like it," she bit out. "You've already been a father to Sunni, but you don't want to be a father to _our_ child?"

He rubbed his forehead, trying to think of the right answer. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what _did_ you mean?"

"I. . ." He trailed off, only beginning to grasp the answer coming to mind. "Sunni was. . .forced on us," he tried. "I'm not saying I don't want her or anything like that, but she was unexpected."

"How would that make an expected child any worse?" she snapped.

"It's not worse, it's --" He growled, growing frustrated. "Babies. . .babies are scary," he finally admitted. "I don't know if I'm a good father or not."

To his surprise, it seemed he'd found the right answer. Suddenly Keira was half on top of him, kissing him firmly. And, he noted, the kiss was completely devoid of passion. He realized that she was trying to comfort him, and that she was succeeding.

"Haven't you been?" she replied finally.

For a moment he could only marvel at the gift Keira was to him. Then he said, "Didn't she say she hates me?"

She smiled. "We've had this conversation."

"Then I guess you have your answer," he conceded at last. "But. . .no rush or anything, right?"

She chuckled. "Alright, fine. I'll wait for _you_." She snuggled into his shoulder, relaxing in his arms.

"Phew," he sighed. "That's a load off my shoulders."


	8. Memory Unlocked

**Disclaimer:** _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_Eight: Memory Unlocked (Sunni's POV from this point on)_

It had happened very suddenly, as she'd been told it might. Something about the sight of Davril, snug in his mother's arms, and the warmth he must be feeling had sent her reeling mentally. For a long moment, as her ears recognized the voices around her but not the words, she saw flashes in her mind's eye that she couldn't identify.

At first.

Then, gradually, she realized that she was seeing her own life – the parts of it she could never remember before. She wore badly sewn clothes; saw others like herself, heard words spoken in a language she could only barely translate. She understood, now, exactly why she was here. Why she had lived in the desert. Why _everything_ – good and bad alike.

She came out of it realizing that Jak and Dax had both left already. She wondered how long she'd been standing like that, staring blankly. But she wasn't at all surprised to find that no one else noticed her silence, with all the excitement over Davril going on.

She smiled at the boy, gave her congratulations to Ashelin and Torn, and excused herself.

Only two places were on her mind to go visit: firstly, the garage, where she'd been living for the past three years; second, to see Jerro, as she found herself liking him very much. She had only just hopped on the jetboard when it occurred to her – all of the things she hadn't let herself see before about the other boy.

She stopped immediately, filing them through her mind. No, she'd been an idiot; she admitted it with difficulty. Everything Jerro had said, his body language, every aspect of him had had darker purposes. He was always too close to her, near her ear, an arm around her waist, a sly touch to her thigh. . .

He'd been trying to seduce her.

This meant she had an entirely new reason to visit him. She threw down the jetboard with ire this time, glad that the air pressure kept it from slamming into things no matter how hard she rode it. Now, Jerro would likely be in the machine shop where his father worked, or hanging out with his other friends in the Scarlet Café. When she didn't see him in the café (as it was closer) she headed for the machine shop.

His father, Reynold, was working on an engine near the entrance. He waved jovially at her. "Welcome, Sunni! Jerro should be in his room." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "Should I get him for you?"

"Please," she nodded. "Meanwhile, let me take a look at that."

Reynold laughed. "Go right ahead; I know it's in good hands with you." He went through a back doorway, bellowing for his son.

Sunni had taken off one of three fans and had an arm halfway buried in the engine when both men returned. She held up a finger with her unused hand for another moment, then pulled out a wrench and bolt from inside. She put them aside. "You should be able to unhook some of the frame now," she told Reynold, wiping her hands off on a rag that only seemed to make them dirtier.

Jerro shook his head, which she might've mistaken for amusement yesterday. But now she could see the annoyance he tried to keep hidden. "What's up, sweetie?"

"Sweetie" was the pet name he'd given her after he discovered her passion for sweet foods.

She got up and inclined her head towards the door. "I wanna talk for a minute, is that okay?"

"Lead on," he said, sweeping an arm ahead of him.

She wondered what his ulterior motives were for her going ahead of him. Once outside, she didn't bother to bat around the subject. "I think it's time we stopped hanging out."

He looked utterly shocked, then narrowed his eyes. "Did your father get to you? He just has it out for me, that's all!"

"Jerro," she interrupted, "I won't stand for you to insult him." She shook her head. "This is a decision _I_ made for myself. I don't want us hanging out anymore."

Confusion crossed his features. "Why? I thought we were having a great time together."

"We were," she agreed, nodding. "But, Jerro. . . I like to think I'm not a child. And you're a child's toy."

Now he was all anger. "A child's toy?" he repeated. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Back up – you're not making any sense!"

"Let me put it this way," she explained, "growing up happens in an instant, right? One moment you're a kid, and the next you're an adult. Well, that happened to me today. Metaphorically, I'm putting away all my old toys. And you, Jerro, are a child's toy."

He grit his teeth, fury evident in his eyes. "Usually, when a girl becomes a woman, she'll fuck her boyfriend, not dump him! Where the hell is my tail, tail-girl?!"

Her eyes widened, hearing that retort. "What?" she echoed breathlessly. "Wait, you're telling me that you were only interested in me because – because --"

"You have a tail!" he all but screamed, throwing his arms wide. "Why else would I want you?!"

The slap was reflexive.

She hadn't meant to draw her arm back, hadn't meant to put all the force she could into a swing, hadn't meant to hit Jerro hard enough that he stumbled back.

"Despicable," she whispered, unable to strengthen her voice any further. It took only a second more and she was on the jetboard, trying to make it go as fast as it could. Hours later, once she'd had a good cry in an out-of-the-way crevice she hadn't known existed before then, she found herself hoping Reynold had heard their spat. Maybe the father could knock some sense into the son.

That thought brought up images of Jak. The one person she'd been avoiding thinking about since earlier, when all of her memories lined up and made sense for the first time. But of course, she had a very good reason for avoiding thinking about him. After all, he'd been the equivalent of a father to her, even if she hadn't said the word aloud before. She could remember dozens of times where she had enjoyed the security of his arms, could distinctly recall the feel of his favorite shirt under her cheek, and most of all, she remembered the look in his eyes when she told him she hated him.

All of these things brought up another tear as she considered them – because she hadn't met him with the intention of becoming his daughter.

She had come here to kill him. And it tore her up, knowing this, knowing _him_, knowing that she'd never be able to do it.

Times, she found, certainly had a habit of misinterpreting things, degrading facts and implementing theories. The first story she'd ever heard of Jak had been that he was the tyrant ruler of Haven City, whom she now knew was the deceased Baron Praxxas. Stories of his exploits included attempts to destroy the rogue Spargus City, destruction of several sacred temples, and the absolute fear everyone else had lived in.

But then, a thousand years was a long time for history to degrade. When most of it was hearsay, it was no surprise that facts became blurred.

Yet there was no other choice that she could see. One millennia from now, Jak and Keira's descendant – Deise, the known world's crowned Emperor – was untouchable. The nobles adored him for his wealth and corruption, the army under him follow him blindly, and all the renegades were far too weak to ever reach him. But a man like Deise simply had to be slain; he would never give up his throne.

His bloodline, weak though it was, allowed him to absorb Dark Eco and harness its power. In combat, no one was his equal, because no one else could even find Eco, let alone use it. He used his power like a spiked whip, inflicting multiple wounds to anyone who disobeyed. A mere twenty years on the throne, and he had nearly accomplished what his father could not: utter destruction of every rebel on the planet.

Which is why she'd been chosen to go back in time, to kill the only person in history they "knew" as an Overlord. She had been sent back to stop the terrifying lineage before it could begin.

She had to tell him.

It was like throwing salt on an open wound, knowing that she had to tell him. . .because there was no other way.

- - - - -

She felt smaller than ever before, sitting with her tail curled around her ankles, head buried in her arms.

She found Jak in the somewhat-retired Command Center she'd visited many times in the past. It had taken almost three months for her to gain enough courage to tell him what she knew, and once started, the flow of words had taken over. Somehow she avoided crying, once she reached the part where she told him she'd been sent to assassinate him.

She supposed it was luck alone that she had found Jak alone here, which is why she'd been so shocked to find she'd completely overlooked Daxter. Both of them now wore disbelieving expressions, seemingly unable to look away from the ball she'd turned herself into, sitting across from Jak, the table between them.

"Assassin?" Jak said at last, once her tale was over.

She nodded meekly, not trusting herself to speak again just yet.

Though Daxter had been standing on the table through most of the story, he eventually fell on his rear in stun. His jaw worked now, trying to form words.

"But you were just a kid," Jak went on. "You were – what, eight?"

"Nine," she corrected quietly. "I'll be sixteen in another four months."

"Why would they send a kid?" Daxter finally voiced.

Sunni shook her head. "They figured I would be pitied, and then I would adapt. My. . .mother seemed to have faith that I could do this." She didn't bother to explain why she had difficulty using the word 'mother' when she wasn't talking about Keira.

Jak propped his elbows on the table, clasped his hands, and rested his chin in the makeshift cradle. After a moment, he shut his eyes, which she supposed meant he was thinking deeply. She bit her lip, unwilling to distract him.

Daxter glanced over at his longtime friend, frowning – something she didn't see often on the Ottsel's face. But he only looked at Jak for an instant before turning back to Sunni, saying, "Then, do you have any idea what you are?"

She raised her brows, surprise overriding any fears she might be fighting back. "That's insulting," she commented, wondering if Daxter simply couldn't say things nicely. "Yes, I know what I am."

"You didn't bring that up," Dax countered.

She narrowed her eyes. "I didn't think it mattered."

"We're still curious, that's all," Jak piped up, defending his friend before he could get into trouble.

She shook her head again. "I'm. . .a genetic manipulation," she tried, lacking the full knowledge of how to explain it. After all, she'd only been told so much, and memories faded quickly for children. "And it's not just me; most of the rebels are, too."

"Genetic manipulation," Jak echoed quietly, not in question.

Dax gave a whistle. "Does that mean you're like. . .a mixed breed?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh. I think it was five hundred years ago – years from now – and. . .insanity, I think, was on the rise. Scientists and stuff found out everyone's DNA was too close together, so there wasn't enough variation. And the only other intelligent life on the planet was Ottsels, so. . ."

She let the sentence trail off, knowing she wouldn't have to finish for them to understand.

"So they, what?" Jak asked. "Pulled a few strands of DNA from humans and Ottsels, then mixed them together?"

"Meticulously," she answered, "but yeah. They were very careful to create as many totally unique DNA codes as they could. Then came in selected breeding, more gene therapy, et cetera. . . And now we have people like me."

"Are they all like you?" Dax threw in. "I mean, exactly?"

"Oh, no," she began. "Actually – we've been calling ourselves Otts, by the way – it's like fingerprints with us. We can be very alike, but none of us are carbon copies or clones or anything." She shrugged. "From what I can remember, very few of us have this kind of nose," she said, tapping her small, rounded Ottsel nose.

"And. . .the tail?" Jak went on.

She shrugged. "Hardly any of us _don't_ have a tail. Everything else is kind of fifty-fifty."

"So it's common, a thousand years from now?" Dax asked.

"What, Otts? Yeah, like two-thirds of the population are us. You could say we're thriving."

"Then why is there a war?" Jak interrupted sharply. "If all the rebels are Otts and you outnumber the humans two-to-one --"

"Did I ever say that all Otts are rebels?" she snapped. "There's plenty of us on Deise's side. We don't have any advantages – if anything, the numbers are even. We're starved, we're tired, we're scrounging to survive, we don't have weapons to fight back with – we're on the losing side!"

"You had the technology to be sent back in time!" Jak argued.

"Once!" she shot back. "We only had enough power to do it once, for someone small, easy to move! They sent me back without any intention of me ever returning!" She was standing now, hands planted on the table. Odd, new feelings were creeping through her mind and down her back, as though something was getting ready to tear her open and burst through. She didn't understand it, and neither did she have any idea how to react to it.

She chose to chock it up to swaying emotions, blaming it on her crazed hormones.

After a moment of silence, Jak got to his feet as well. He said, quietly, "Don't worry yourself, Sunni. Leave it up to me."

"Us," Dax correctly, puffing out his chest in pride. "We can solve this."

Her heart sank despite the reassurances. "Don't tell anyone else," she murmured. "I don't want them knowing."

Jak shook his head, then tilted a smirk at her. "Only if you agree to stop seeing that boy."

"Jerro?" she asked, looking up in surprise. "I broke it off with him months ago."

Now it was Jak's turn to look surprised. "Months ago? Why?"

She couldn't help her smile. "Because my father was right about him."

For one lengthy moment, silence reigned. Then Jak smiled wide. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you say that?"

"What, 'father'?" she asked.

He shook his head. "That I'm right." Shrugging a shoulder, he added, "I always knew who I am to you."

She couldn't stop herself then, not even if she'd wanted to. With a joyous hop, she cleared the table, and then she was hugging him, a grin on her face. She felt him ruffle her hair, coercing a giggle from her at his playfulness.

She knew now, even if she didn't before, how foolish she'd been. How could she ever have agreed to kill a man she only knew rumors about? How would she ever hate him for looking out for her? Why had she been so reluctant to call him her father, when he clearly was?

She decided, then, to set history straight. She didn't know how she would do it, but she would change the future for the better – and make sure the history books knew who Jak really was.

With a glance over at Daxter, appraising them both with a raised brow, she added silently, "_And_ Daxter."


	9. Discoveries

**Disclaimer:** _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_Nine: Discoveries_

It was like leading a double-life.

During most of the daylight hours, she had fun spending her time as she had been – helping Keira with vehicles, gizmos and gadgets, or hanging around with Ashelin and baby Davril. She tested herself based on books and computer learning software, sometimes spending hours on the jetboard, pulling ever more complicated acrobatic moves. She even visited Samos more these days, wanting to know more about Eco, and anything else he could teach her.

But the nights were usually spent with Jak and Daxter, trying to determine some means of changing the future. Because of the theories of cause and effect, it was incredibly time-consuming. Jak likened it to cracking a diamond – if done incorrectly, the diamond could shatter; or alternatively, nothing at all could happen. Precision was the key.

Keira, she found, was very surprised to hear the words "mother" and "father" coming from Sunni's mouth. The first time she'd said "mother" to Keira, the older had positively melted, squealed, and finally hugged Sunni breathless.

At first, as the days became weeks, she wasn't at all worried. There was no sleep being lost over this lifestyle, as everyone parted more often before bedtime than after. Her studies, alternating supervision by both Keira and Jak, were continuing without flaw (in her opinion). She also took the time to help teach Davril when she was with him.

But this full set of distractions prevented her from noticing the changes going on around her. This became painfully clear when she happened upon Keira and Ashelin talking in the garage. Since Sunni hadn't been expecting to return so early in the evening, she was prepared for surprising the other women – most pointedly Keira, as Ashelin's presence in the garage was another unanticipated aspect of the day.

Her first thought, as she approached the women from far behind the couch where they sat, was that they were laughing. Her second thought, following the first, was that only _one_ of them was laughing.

But that wasn't laughter; it was sobs. And given only Keira had her head bowed too far for Sunni to see clearly, it was easy to guess who was crying.

Ashelin was speaking. "You can't just assume he's cheating," she said soothingly.

Sunni ducked behind the wall instinctively.

"What else am I supposed to think?" Keira asked, her voice cracking.

"I'm sorry, Keira," Ashelin murmured, "but I can't see it happening. Especially not with Sunni."

Sunni's eyes bugged out. Keira thought Jak was cheating on her. . .with herself? Her head reeled as the conversation continued.

Keira let loose another harsh sob before going on. "What else could it be, Ashe? Tell me that! He's been spending so much time with her, and he never tells me why! All he ever says is that it's not a big deal! Now what does that sound like to _you_?" she queried harshly, breaking down into more tears.

"Like. . .like he's keeping secrets," Ashelin finally sighed. "But there has to be some other reason. I can't see Jak cheating on you, most especially not with Sunni. . . Listen, Keira, if you can't get answers from him, then get them from _her_."

Sunni leaned against the wall weakly, hearing all this. And, sadly, it made perfect sense. Of course Keira would suspect something; she was, essentially, staying alone with Jak secretly almost every night. And because she'd asked him not to tell her story, he was limited on the answers he could give. With a frown, she pushed herself away from the wall.

She could only see two options in her mind: first, go to Jak, try to find a solution to this problem with his aid. Second, talk to Keira herself, and tell her. . .everything.

The former was a bad idea, and she recognized it as so. Solve this problem with Jak by spending more time with him, letting the fears Keira was feeling deepen? It was downright stupid. But she also reluctant to do the latter, partially because she hated telling the story once, and she didn't want to do it again.

On the other hand, it was easy to see which choice would be the least destructive.

- - - - -

"You're late," Jak commented as Sunni entered the Command Center. It was, after all, where they'd been trying to formulate plans.

Sunni sighed heavily. "I told mother."

"Told her?" Jak asked. "Wait – told her. . .told her _everything_?" he blurted as the dots connected.

She nodded sharply.

He stared for a moment. "Why did you. . ? I thought you didn't want anyone else knowing."

"She was crying," she informed him. "Mother thought you were cheating on her – with _me_. So I didn't have a choice, I had to tell her."

"Wait," he started with a laugh. "She thought I was cheating on her with _you_?"

She nodded again, narrowing her eyes. "This isn't funny, father. She was really scared."

"No, I understand that," he said, waving his hands innocently. "It just surprised me."

"It surprised everybody," she retorted.

"But you still told her?"

"Uh-huh."

"Anybody else?"

"Ashelin was there, too." She shook her head. "No one else."

"So Ashelin knows?"

"Yeah-huh. Why?"

He paused, thinking. "We could use their help."

"No!" she snapped, panic zipping up her spine. "We can't!"

He looked surprised. "I don't see why not."

She bit her lips, trying to form some kind of an argument. "Because. . .because we can't," she started, uselessly.

"Still waiting on that reason," he shot back.

She found herself tapping her foot as though it could help. "Because it's. . . It's something I have to do myself."

"With _my_ help," he pointed out.

"It's still my burden," she snapped. "I think I get to choose who helps and who doesn't."

"Right. And what happens if, say, Keira offers to help? Then what?"

"I tell her she can't; I won't allow it." She stared hard at him, trying to make her point.

But he was looking down at her as though humoring a child. "So you're going to reject anybody else's help on the principle that you can pick and choose?"

"Yes." She was still trying to stare him down, but so far it seemed to fail.

He frowned. "It sounds more like you're either on a power trip, or you've grown arrogant. Sunni, I've been in several battles where I wouldn't have survived if I hadn't accepted the help of those around me. The same rule applies here. Everyone counts."

She knew he was trying to be protective, wise, and fatherly; that knowledge did nothing to make her relent. "I won't accept that. I was sent here to do this _on my own,_ and I will."

The way he straightened up gave her a bad feeling. Then, with a shrug, he said, "Then I guess you don't need me, either." As he rounded the table, clearly bent on the entrance, her jaw worked, trying to form protests. "When you've come to your senses," he threw over his shoulder, "I'll be waiting. _With_ Keira."

She still hadn't managed to make a single sound until he'd shut the door behind him, and then she was standing, alone, in the center of the room. As her stun faded, she managed an indignant kind of yell that made her think of an angry yowl. _Stubborn man,_ she thought, seething in her frustration. _Why can't he see that I need to do this my way?_

She knew enough about the plans so far to know that she couldn't do it on her own – she wasn't smart enough, much as that thought burned her up inside. But what else could she do? Now she was irritated, resentful, and brimming with the energy derived from both. She needed some kind of release –

_Duh._

When it came to energy, she had the perfect tool to vent it. She even carried it with her just about everywhere she went, and it hung on her hip even now (since Keira had designed a "stylish" kind of hip-holster for her). The jetboard.

Her tail, she learned, had always been an excellent balancing tool when it came to the jetboard. She could do things on it Jak couldn't entirely because of it. As she rode it now – air vent hop to coated power line – she was thinking about where she would go. She'd already been around this city enough times to know it inside and out. Same for Spargus City – it would be nothing new, everything practiced and expected. The only other place she could possibly go was. . .

Was. . .

She grinned.

She'd been warned about the Wasteland; that was true. But she'd also been jetboarding in it for the past year, if always alongside Jak. Of course, getting into the Wasteland at night was tough; however, a girl who was excellent at climbing would have little difficulty. It was all too easy to reach the gates leading to the Wasteland, and hardly taxing to climb right over it.

She would worry her mother and father, choosing to do something like this, but she didn't see many other options. If anything, when she came back unscathed, Jak would finally have to admit that she was an adult capable of taking care of herself. That'd show him.

The dangers out here were severe, she knew; yet they also had certain counters she knew of quite well. Not to mention that during night, most of them simply went away.

She found herself standing before a very particular rocky hill. Jak had pointed it out to her but once, naming it as the one she'd been living in – or so they assumed, having found her clothes in there. She had shrugged it off then, having no interest in her past. But now she wanted to know a bit more.

She climbed up the hill, found the crevice from memory, and slipped inside easily. Ah, how helpful being tiny could be.

All sides of the cave glowed. In her memories of this place, she remembered the Eco lulling her to sleep every night, keeping her warm. It was, perhaps, the influence of the Eco that put her mind at ease, once upon a time. Her first few days in this Wasteland, as she recalled, had been horribly terrifying. Finding this cave had been a godsend, in point of fact. The green Eco had worked as nourishment for her, keeping her healthy as she adapted to fending for herself in this place.

Her back twinged slightly in remembrance of her near-death experience. If she could remember correctly – if she hadn't been imagining it – then the Eco had become brighter during those few days after, as she recovered.

Now, as she stood, she could feel the warmth in this place once more. Oh yes, it was thanks to this cave that she lived now; she knew it. The soft, glowing light of the Eco was an unconscious lure to her, making her smile. As though pulled by invisible hands, she crossed over to where the light Eco illuminated the cave.

And those white globs of Eco pulled right back, zipping from where they lay to _her_. Though she jumped in surprise, they disappeared, merging with her stomach and chest without pain or discomfort. Stunned at its reaction, she reached out slowly, and again, a few of the light Eco globs shot towards her, merging with her on contact.

She stared at her hands, wondering if she was imagining the way they glowed, or if the Eco around was simply casting light that made them appear so. The fact that the light Eco had reacted to her was a little piece of knowledge that she wouldn't have traded for the world.

Because she could _use_ Eco. Light Eco, to be precise – the opposite of Deise's Dark Eco. She wondered, then, if fate chose to work in the most confusing, roundabout ways, or if it was required to eventually make sense of it all.

And she smiled.

Wondering at the extent of this ability of hers, she spent the next hour or so touching this Eco or that Eco, finding that nothing seemed to really work in the same way the light Eco had done. She found she could hold and throw the yellow Eco, which made small bursts when it connected with the cave face. Red Eco tended to vibrate when her hand came close to it, so she didn't touch it outright. She got little zings of electricity whenever she touched the blue Eco, though her fingers mostly moved through it, like hot dough. Green Eco was the fun one, as it acted like water when she touched it, leaving a brief green glow on her hand once she retrieved it.

She only avoided the black, gooey dark Eco. When she came near, it reverted from a tar-like pool to round, more violet-ish blobs. That was enough of a reaction to tell her that she _might_ be able to use it the way Deise did, but the knowledge of exactly what it had done to the man and what he now used it for kept her from wanting to find out.

Curiosity made her return, once more, to the side with the light Eco. Only a little trepidation went through her as the Eco kept on coming towards her, merging with her. She remained extra close to it, holding her breath, until they stopped coming and instead remained right where they were. She understood it as being tapped out, holding the max amount of Eco possible in her very body. It made her excited.

She wondered if Jak felt this way, too, when he thought of it.

She climbed out of the cave, shaking a little with anticipation. As soon as she was on her feet, she tried to use the Eco, tried to discover what it would do.

It was harder than she thought it would be. Unsure what she was doing, exactly, she tried to, in a sense, locate where the Eco was, and then tried to let it loose. After over half an hour of standing there, trying to figure it out, she nearly gave up. Exasperated, she huffed, folding her arms.

Maybe if she calmed herself. . .

She shut her eyes, breathing slowly on purpose. Somewhat like a spring, it was as if all her tension unwound, letting her shoulders relax. Now that she'd calmed down, she could hear the wind going over the rocks around her. It was an interesting sound, one not quite like anything else, if she thought about it.

But of course, her past couldn't let her be. Deise and his reign entered her mind again, reminding her what was in her future once more. She opened her eyes with a frown, thinking about it.

She wanted to kill him. As the man who slaughtered her people, she wanted him dead at her own hands. Even if she knew there was no way – she neither had the capability nor the circumstances available – even if she couldn't ever find a way, she still wanted to kill him herself. It was, after all, the course in life she'd been charged with, indirectly though it was.

Perhaps she was going about this the wrong way, trying to do it all alone. After all, wasn't Jak already experienced in everything she wanted to be, too? She knew his affinity towards Eco – knew he would be able to help her learn to use it, to control it. And she knew he'd more than likely be thrilled to know she could.


	10. Training

**Disclaimer:** _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_Ten: Training_

When she returned back home, she was already yelling for Jak and Keira. Granted she still officially lived in the garage, while they preferred Jak's place, but she was expecting to find them here since it wasn't even past eight yet.

She _wasn't_ expecting to walk into the living room-esque area and get an eyeful of them. . .naked. . .And all over each other.

"Oh geez!" she snapped, zipping from the room.

She could hear surprised profanities and a few (likely painful) thuds, but she wasn't about to go back in there, locking herself in her room. Her jaw fell open as soon as the door was shut and she shuddered.

"S-Sunni?" she heard Keira call from the other room.

She bit her lip. "I'm in my room!" she yelled back.

"Oh god," Jak moaned, only barely audible through the door.

_My sentiments exactly,_ she thought, leaning against her door. She slid down it, shaking her head. She hoped she'd never see _that_ again.

"We're getting dressed," Keira called.

"Don't ever say that again!" Sunni snapped back.

"This didn't happen," Jak was saying to himself. A little louder, he said, "We weren't expecting you back for a long time."

"No, no, shut up," she retorted. "I don't wanna hear any more!"

"Agreed," Keira sighed.

A good ten minutes later and she finally braved stepping out of her room. She found her surrogate parents sitting on opposite ends of the couch, not even looking at each other at the moment. When she was within sight of them, she became the point of interest.

Judging by the Keira's pink cheeks and the way Jak was pointedly perturbed, neither one would be getting over this anytime soon. . .let alone their "daughter."

Letting out a harsh breath, she decided to jump right in with what she'd been planning on saying.

Which, as it turned out, was nothing like she'd planned.

"I went out in the Wasteland."

She received shocked expressions even as Jak retorted sharply, "Unsupervised?"

She rolled her eyes.

"No, you don't," he snapped, standing. "Don't roll your eyes at us! That was dangerous, and you know it!"

"It can also be very beneficial," she shot back.

He scoffed. "Is that worth the possibility of death?"

"Sometimes," she all but snarled.

Keira cut in then, before a battle could begin. "What do you mean, beneficial?" she asked, coming between them to act as a barrier.

"I found a cave," she answered, still ready to bare her fangs if Jak did too.

But instead, a surprised kind of recognition took over his features. "A cave?" he echoed, as though making sure he heard her right.

She nodded, relaxing a little. "I'm positive it's the cave I used to live in."

There was a long moment of silence then, during which her parents looked at each other hard.

". . .And?" Jak prodded at last.

She bit her lip. "I'm Eco-sensitive. I mean, they all reacted differently, but --"

"You didn't go anywhere near the Dark Eco, did you?" he interrupted.

She shook her head. "No closer than. . .five feet or so," she answered, having to think it over.

He seemed to relax then, blowing out a heavy breath.

"Why are you telling us this?" Keira asked then, laying a hand on Sunni's.

Sunni grinned in response. "I absorbed a lot of the Light Eco. That's why."

The silence, this time, was heavy and sharp. It was almost like time froze for a few moments, while her parents thought hard about this new information. She understood that well enough – Eco Sensitives well relatively common, so it wasn't totally necessary to tell them _she_ was. But Light and Dark Eco were different, much more particular types. A person who could absorb and use either one was definitely out of the ordinary.

Which is what made Jak so spectacular, in her opinion.

"So," Jak started in an almost grave tone, "you can use Light Eco."

"Well, I haven't been able to 'use' it yet," she disagreed. "But it's there. I can feel it all the same."

"And you want me to teach you how," he finished for her.

She tilted her head in question. "How did you know I'd ask you that?"

"Because I'm your father, I know," he told her, smiling the barest of smiles. That amusement died quickly, however. He continued, "And you want to find a way back to your time."

She could hardly believe he'd said it. How well did he know her, she wondered, to know precisely what she was planning? As though scolded by that simple sentence, she bit her lip. "I think it's what I was meant for."

Keira shook her head, pulling Sunni into an embrace. "No, you don't have to think that way," she denied, as Sunni returned the hug. "That future time is far, far away from you. You don't have to worry about it, you don't even have to think about it. You can let someone else --"

As the words sunk in, Sunni had to push away. "No!" she snapped. "How can you think that way, mother? What if. . .what if father thought that way?" she asked, gesturing Jak sharply. "Where would the city be now? Where would _you_ be now?!"

"Sunni. . ." Keira started, trailing off.

Strangely under control, Jak pulled Keira to him, and she clung to him in return. To Sunni, he said, "I'm not arguing with you."

In shock, Keira looked up, blurting, "Wait, you're not. . ? Then. . . But if she goes, she. . ."

Watching, Sunni couldn't help but marvel at the situation. At Keira's protests, he simply looked at her, and whatever was in his gaze must've told Keira something she didn't want to admit before, because she quit fighting. Instead, she pressed her face into his chest silently.

And Jak continued, "The problem, Sunni, would be in sending you back where you came from. We don't have that kind of technology."

"You did once before," Sunni pointed out. "Mother made a vehicle --"

"_Years_ ago," Keira cut in. "I can't remember it anymore."

Shaking her head, Sunni tried to wrap her head around this. "No," she argued, "you said you weren't going to fight me on this." There was accusation in her eyes when she looked at Jak now. "But you're still telling me 'no'!"

"I'm telling you," he disagreed quietly, "that _we_ can't send you back."

A bit of her rage died. "Then, if _you_ can't. . ?"

"The Precursors," he answered. "They've been wanting to meet you anyway. Listen. . ."

He told her then – told both women – about venturing out with Daxter to see the Precursors, to contact them. He told them about the second visit, learning that Sunni shouldn't exist though she does, and their interest in her. And finally, he told them about his and Daxter's mutual agreement to never take her to the temple.

". . .But now," he went on, "I don't think we have a choice. If you're set on this – going back to your time, setting things right – then we'll need their help." He glanced down at Keira for a moment, a silent apology in his eyes, before continuing. "You have to be determined to see this through," he advised Sunni. "If you go back, I can't go with you – I couldn't help you. No one could."

She understood that, had since she made her decision; but only now did the reality of it sink in. If she left. . .she'd be leaving forever. She'd have to say goodbye to her parents, Ashelin and Torn and Davril, whom she regarded as her aunt, uncle and cousin. Daxter and Tess, more like elder siblings than anything else. All of her acquaintances, kids her age she considered friends – Samos, too, who'd been very grandfatherly towards her.

It made her want to back out, before anything had been set in stone. On the other hand. . .

Deise entered her mind. No, somebody had to stop him – somebody who had the power to. And she couldn't leave it up to fate, to a toss of the dice; there was too much to lose if she really was the only one who could defeat him.

"And if you decide to go back," he was saying now, "we have to make sure you're prepared for anything. We'll need to train you."

"With what? Guns?" she asked, processing the information a little bit slowly.

He gave a nod. "If you're any good with them. But specifically with whatever you're best at."

The jetboard came to mind, and she said as much.

"Among other things," he told her firmly. "You can't rely on just a tool."

She frowned, narrowing her eyes. "I'm aware of that. Don't insult me."

She could see a retort forming, could practically hear the words already – which is why she was so happy when Keira cut in before anything could blow up.

"Don't think we're trying to insult you," she corrected. "We just want to make sure you're prepared." Her voice, right at the end, cracked, and she turned to hide her face in Jak's chest against. He put his arms around her tightly, turning a solemn, forlorn look on Sunni.

It almost broke her heart. Coming closer, she tried to squeeze between them, saying, "I'm not gone yet." She was still small enough that she could snuggle into Keira the way Keira did to Jak, and she did so. "I'm not gone yet," she repeated, though this time it was much quieter.

- - - - -

Training, she discovered quickly, was much more difficult than she first assumed. But not quite as difficult as convincing their entire friend-family unit that she was set on going back. Some, she knew, had a harder time than others, because some of them were hit with the fact that she was from the future moments before learning she wanted to go back.

And although the person who'd been most distant with her was Torn, he was also the person who fought the strongest. He was describing it as though it were a suicide mission and refused to let her go – and he and Jak clashed like water and fire on the issue. Finally, however, he subsided, claiming that if she were indeed to go, he was going to "make damn sure you can get out of any situation."

On the one hand, it warmed her heart to think he cared so much, when he never truly seemed to. On the other, however, she had the thought that he was going to try to dissuade her through harsh training so she wouldn't _want_ to leave.

Every one of them – Jak, Keira, Ashelin, Torn, Daxter, Tess and Samos – had advice to give, knowledge to bestow, strategies to employ. It reached the point where, after some time, she told them all off and took a day to relax by herself, "surfing" the jetboard on the ocean and napping under the sun.

She learned things about herself as time went on, things she labeled as "important" or "passive" or "useful" as necessary. Her agility and lightweight size made her a competent climber, which she'd always known, but now she worked with it harder until she could sneak absolutely anywhere. Akin to a hunter, and working with Keira, she developed a large amount of patience, in between lessons of how to assemble or sabotage various mechanical objects.

Ashelin was determined to make Sunni as strong as she could be, teaching her different hand-to-hand fighting styles. And at Sunni's request, the older woman also bestowed several tattoos on her, which were slightly a mix of Ashe and Torn's different types. The tattoos consisted of circles and angular lines, on her face, neck, shoulders, one on each hip, a few on her chest, left ear and near the tip of her tail.

As predicted, Torn was the toughest with her, to the point where she had to remind herself he _wasn't_ trying to torture her every time she had to train under him. He gave her a lot of quizzes mid-practice to keep her mind sharp, which she was elated to realize actually worked. Beyond that, he taught her to judge things well, from reactions to physics to distance to emotion. However, he also had her run obstacle courses. She hated him at the end of every lesson, because at the end of every lesson, she had bruises and cuts to nurse.

With Daxter and Tess (who loved working as a team), her job was simply to keep up. The nimbler duo were hard to keep in sight a good majority of the time, let alone follow. And the downside to all this training was simple: while it did its job teaching _her,_ it was also keeping all of her teachers in top form.

The worst moment she had, in all of this work, was when she awoke to find she couldn't move well. With an amused laugh, Torn diagnosed her as having muscle failure. For three days she needed to be babied, because she couldn't do anything by herself. In one way, it was horribly degrading, but on the other, a reprieve.

Alternatively, the best moment was when she finally unleashed the Light Eco she'd absorbed. It was all thanks to Jak, though – when she expressed frustration at not being able to use it, he solved the problem by "showing her how it's done." He changed first, then reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

The contact was all she needed, as it turned out.

And she found it impossible to describe what it felt like. It was as though everything in her quieted, becoming peaceful. There was a sense of control that was almost overwhelming in its subtlety. For about a minute, _everything_ was within reach and there were no limitations.

When, at last, it ended, she found herself missing that serenity. The next several hours were spent talking about it to anyone who would listen, completely fascinated with the change within herself. In fact, it had the lasting effect of strengthening her dwindling confidence in the future. If she could use this power regularly, after all, she couldn't see Deise defeating her in battle. . .

But that hinged on her being able to use it whenever she needed to. She wasn't so sure about that. It was just one of those things that only time could tell.


	11. Graduation

**Disclaimer:** _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_Eleven: Graduation_

Before her, inside the building, was her target: her jetboard and rifle. This was her graduation ceremony, at the age of twenty, and those items were her diploma. But this graduation required her to get them; they weren't going to be handed over. She knew the rules of this test. Everyone within, "protecting" her board and gun, were connected by radio. If any one of them called in an attack, she'd have to start all over.

She had already attempted this run twice. As she didn't know where her destination was, it required scouting in shadows -- not an easy task, with Dax and Tess scouting the same areas she could possibly hide. She also happened to know that not only were Jak and Keira patrolling, but so were Ashelin and Torn. Pecker and Samos _might_ be there, too; she hadn't seen them yet.

And the most frustrating part? Every time she failed, the building was rearranged during the rest of the day. When she tried again, it was a different setup. The only thing that remained the same was the size of the building itself. Everything else was movable.

And were moved. She just knew it was Torn's idea. Not to mention he probably set up a dozen different arrangements ahead of time. So much for being "Uncle" Torn, she thought; she wanted to strangle him for making things so hard for her. Although, she had to admit, she knew he did it for her benefit: making it through odds like this would only make her more capable.

She still hoped she'd run into _him_ first. She wanted to knock him out. If nothing else, it would release a lot of pent-up frustration. And she had a trick of her own this time, to help her out. They couldn't blame her for preparing herself, anyway; Torn himself had told her that any ingenuity on her part would be applauded.

She had a pouch filled with beads on her hip. Any one of them, when broken, would release colorless, odorless gas: knock-out gas. It was bound to come in handy.

She climbed up the building, glad she had such strong grips and claws on both hands and feet. She peeked through a window, which had bars but no glass. Bars that were close enough together that no average human could fit through. But then, she was under five feet tall, much smaller than most.

She would've thought that Torn would take that into account for barring the window, but then it wouldn't match the whole 'unknown invader' theme they had set up for her. She slid through the bars with little trouble, sticking to the shadows.

Torn was directly below her. She could see him through the grates that made up the second-floor walkway. He was shining a palm-light in front of him as he went, playing the part of a bored soldier patrolling when he thought it would be just another boring night. Or a very clever soldier keeping an alert ear, and she knew what to look for to determine which he was.

He tilted his head marginally, aiming an ear in her direction -- the direction of the window. She came to the conclusion that, in all likeliness, the real Torn was giving her a chance he clearly thought she needed. She'd have to prove him wrong. Silently, she withdrew a gas bead, knowing he would never see her with the way she'd concealed herself.

Because she was smart enough to be in the rafters, as opposed to the walkway itself. She rolled onto her back, losing sight of him but also completely hiding herself, even if he were to shine his light this way. When she heard footfalls signaling he was walking away, she kept a sharp eye on the ceiling above her.

As soon as the light would pour there, she would make her move. And how sweet it would be, she knew. She greatly desired to knock him on his ass, after all the tough love he'd been giving her. It was time to give some of it back -- specifically, showing him just how much she _appreciated_ his tutelage.

The light shone on the ceiling, and just as it began receding, she leapt. Off the rafters, two steps across the wall, rebound off, hurling herself over him -- drop the bead -- onto a beam, off it, down the ground, silently padding on feet clearly made for stealth, and finally darting behind a crate. She heard Torn cough, run into something, stumble --

He was faking, she realized all at once. Either her drop had missed, or he had a counter to it. He was faking, because she knew the gas would hit faster than that.

And then she scowled, because he wasn't calling in the attack. He was giving her another chance. This isn't how it would go in the real world, the bastard. But if he wanted to give it another go. . .

She could hear his footsteps coming nearer. He probably hadn't seen her, but would have heard something in this deathly silent warehouse -- a warehouse that was especially good at carrying echoes. She'd bet her life that Torn had taken this into account as well when making these courses, to make things harder for her. That tough love again.

She leapt over the crate, kicking him square in the jaw. He hadn't had time to react, so quick was her movement. She slapped his radio from his hand in her next move, and then he swung out and she ducked under him. A second later and she was on his back, his head in a choke hold. No mercy, he'd said; no mercy because soldiers rarely showed any. She needn't kill, he'd said, but the soldiers _had_ to be incapacitated.

He dropped, soundlessly. She held on a few seconds more, just to be positive. Then she got up, rolled him on his back (she may be irritated with him, but he was still her uncle and she'd be damned if she let him be unconscious _and_ uncomfortable) and searched out his radio. With the skills she'd learned from Keira, she opened the case, pulling out key parts she knew would make it work, then replaced it.

There was movement ahead. She hadn't seen it, but she'd heard it. Once she looked, she saw a small form, blue on top and wearing a blue-and-yellow outfit. Speak of the devil, it was Keira -- her mother.

She couldn't see herself knocking Keira out, even less so Jak. But she knew Jak would undoubtedly be her last obstacle, because he was also the strongest. They all knew that. She was much more tied to him than anybody else. At the very least, it would give her time to take care of everyone else.

Now Sunni had two choices with Keira: quietly go in one direction or another, and knock her out with a bead and not have to worry about her interference later. With the wit of one who'd spent far too many hours with Torn, she found herself listing possible ways to do all of the above. It seemed like the best idea to use the bead, but then again. . .

Even if she were to step aside her family bonds, there was still the object of not knowing what else lay ahead. Knowing Keira had her believing that something technical was ahead -- a camera or sensor of some sort -- and that she'd have to overcome that, as well.

She glanced around, getting her bearings. That wall, conveniently, had a hole in it. A large, square hole, at that; something a conveyer line would go through on its rounds. She didn't trust it, but perhaps she could make it work to her advantage. And then it hit her that the hole itself was a test. . .a very big test.

How she loved challenges. She climbed up into it, eyes darting, body low as she crawled nearer to the opening. Pausing, she pulled out a bead.

She tossed it. It flitted along the ground until it bumped into a wall, not going off. She saw Keira's head snap towards it, saw her approach. She saw movement in a high corner and spotted a camera following the way Keira was going.

A camera trained on Keira at all times. Sunni smirked.

When the camera was off her, she slid out, silently padding across the floor. She was beneath where the camera was in seconds, pressed into the dark corner. Keira, whether by lack of soldier's training or her assumed identity's, didn't find the bead. She went back to her rounds. Once she and the camera were back to their starting position, Sunni darted forward once more.

She'd snuck by Keira completely without notice. She'd never felt prouder of herself than that moment, knowing she had duped someone in this test, distracting her, without having to knock her out. Torn would scold her, she knew, but she also knew Jak would be impressed (and not a little relieved).

She barely had enough time to catch a flash of red, only an inch or so taller than the boxes it moved by. Ashelin's head. She could also make out the tips of the other woman's ears. Not wanting to battle Ashelin, she darted past as quickly as she could, making sure that her run took her behind the elder woman. A second obstacle left awake and unscathed, she thought with a grim smile.

That was when she heard the scrape of claws on metal. Her head whipped around, and she froze in place, eyes wide. Daxter was above her on the walkway, she was sure of it, though the walkway was solid metal. She was suddenly glad she hadn't climbed up there. It felt wrong to consider knocking him out.

Another set of claws trailed behind him. Lucky. She wouldn't have to face either of the Ottsels. She kept moving now, eyes and ears straining. She could smell, very slightly, each person, but their scents were mixed up. It was hard to tell who was where like this, which is precisely why she hadn't been trying to follow her nose.

There, suspended in a blue antigravity field, was the jetboard and gun. She eyed them carefully from her long distance away, waiting for Jak to make his appearance. Each second that went on without spotting him increased her suspicion. She tried to focus more on her hearing as she glanced around, taking a few steps to the side.

She yelped as something grabbed her, knocking her to the ground. She flailed and spun, getting out of the grip with difficulty. She met gazes with a full-suited man in black, tinted goggles hiding even his eyes from sight. As if she wouldn't know who it was.

She pounced; they wrestled. But her goal wasn't to win this fight -- it was to get apart and snatch up her trophies. Something metal clicked shut over her wrist, and she recognized a bracer. The kind used for prisoners. A thick cord connected it with a twin bracer, and she yanked her hand out of the way when it was shoved towards her other hand.

She knocked him down, rolling out of the way. When she paused, on her feet, she had a knife in her hand -- she'd snatched it from his pocket. She jabbed it down into the crevice that kept it sealed and it popped open after another second. That one second freed her, but also allowed Jak a moment to recover and retaliate.

She sprinted for the prizes displayed before her. It was stupid, stupid, stupid, to assume there was no defense on the field itself, but she trusted that her family wouldn't electrocute her. Her hands went through the field like water, sending ripples through it. For a moment, the most disconcerting feeling took over, now that her hands were weightless. The pressure on the inside of her hand was intense.

She swiped, gripping the board. It sent the gun flinging out, which she caught in her other hand. Yanking herself around in midair, she took the landing while displaying her trophies high above her head, grinning.

"I win," she said simply.

Jak, who'd been mid-run, slowed to a stop. He looked down and pressed a button on his forearm, then took off the mask covering his face. He looked proudly at her as the lights flicked on, brightly.

"Impressive," he approved. "You only knocked out Torn."

"He had it coming," she said, then frowned, lowering her arms. "You were shadowing me this whole time, weren't you?"

He smiled, unashamed. "Yep. You did real good."

"Not good enough," she grumbled, folding her arms. "I never noticed _you_."

"Don't worry. I had plans, and all the info." He came over to her, hugging her to him. "Man, you're tiny."

"No, you're just tall," she denied, perturbed, though she hugged him back.

After a moment, he sighed, and she could tell he was withdrawing.

She leaned back. "What?"

His eyes were sad. He didn't have to say anything for her to understand why. She buried her face in his chest, holding on much more tightly now. She didn't want to go for the same reasons she _had_ to go: to protect her family. Not just Jak and Keira and her aunts and uncles, but the family she couldn't remember, the family in the future. The people who'd sent her back in time to save them before things could begin going badly. The same people who she felt obligated to save.

Faceless people, nameless people. What was a girl to do? She groaned into Jak's chest.

He crushed her to him, unwilling to let go. "No matter what," he said softly, "you're still my daughter."

She nodded, the movement limited. "You're still my father. Keira's still my mother. Nothing's changed."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could do this for you."

"Don't. This is my burden. I'll deal with it." She sniffed once, holding back fresh waves of despair at the thought of leaving. She looked up, smiling. It felt unnatural. "You've done more than enough, just by preparing me to do this."

"Nothing's been done yet," he countered weakly.

Her smile faded. "Yes it has. There's plans. I promise not to deviate," she added, trying to joke.

His smile didn't reach his eyes. "I'll miss you."

"I'm not gone yet," she moaned, hiding her face again. She didn't want to let go, ever.

"Sunni?"

She glanced up again at the new voice, seeing that Keira had reached them. Her surrogate mother looked as torn as she felt, as Jak felt. As everyone would probably be feeling.

"Hello, mother," she greeted quietly. She let go of Jak to hug Keira next.

It didn't take long for her to be passed around her family, exchanging hugs and well-wishes and regrets. To her surprise, it was Torn who had the most trouble letting go. She wondered, not for the first time, what was going on in his head. At times he seemed so annoyed with the prospect of family, and at others, seemed pained by the thought of not having one.

Though this was the last time she would be able to talk with him, she let it go. It would give her something to puzzle over, possibly for the rest of her life. Something to hold onto. . .


	12. Eight

**Disclaimer:** _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_Twelve: Eight_

Sunni had no time left for goodbyes - not because she felt the world would end in the next few minutes, but because it was tearing her apart to leave them all behind. The longer she waited, the harder it was to turn around. Jak, Keira, Samos, Dax, Tess, Pecker, Sig, Onin, Ashelin, Torn, Davril, Vin. . .friends in Haven, friends in Spargus. . .even Kleiver, whom found her and was thus responsible for her life here in Haven.

She had to leave them all, to get back to her own time and set things right. Deise had to die, and she had to be the one to do it. She was the only one who _could_ do it; only Light Eco could fight Dark Eco. It was cliché, the dark versus the light, but it was the way it was.

Thanks to Tess, she had a gun that was close to a smaller replica of Jak's oh-so-famous gun, and thanks to Keira, she had a jetboard just her size. Thanks to Ashelin, she had an ensemble that came with strong, protective leather and metal at the shoulders, knees and forearms. Thanks to Torn, she was mentally and physically prepared for this.

In the end, everyone had played a part to getting her this far, and she kept repeating their names in her head as she boarded the flight to Spargus. She couldn't allow herself to look back, but she saw nothing wrong with _thinking_ back.

At Spargus, she said goodbye to Sig and Kleiver, though Kleiver didn't look phased in the least. Kleiver had to come with her to the Temple as well; she had to drive there, and someone had to drive it back once she was gone.

Unfortunately for Kleiver, she drove in a way Jak claimed would get her killed someday. It was ironic of him to say so, since Daxter tended to reply with, "You were even worse at her age."

She expected nothing more than indifference from Kleiver once she hopped out of the vehicle, which is why it surprised her when he called out.

"Wait'a minute," he said. She paused, turning to see him. "This is. . .really it? Once you go in there, yer never comin' back out?"

"Exactly," she agreed, confused.

He hesitated. "Then I guess it won't be so bad to say. . .when I first saw you, you were the cutest lil' thing I ever saw."

She smiled, warming. "Thanks. You were the scariest thing I'd ever seen."

He laughed. "Yeah, well. I guess you won't be tellin' no one I said that."

"No one you'll ever see again," she hinted.

He huffed. "Bah. I'm just getting sentimental with old age. Happens. . ." He muttered to himself as he climbed into the driver's seat. "Just. . .don't get yerself killed, alright?"

She waved. "I'm not planning on it. Goodbye, Kleiver. Thanks for giving me such a great life."

He looked startled. But he didn't reply as he spun the vehicle around and took off.

_Let him think about that for a while,_ she thought, smirking.

She was expected when she reached the statue in the center of the temple. She said only, "It's time. I'm ready," and then she was enveloped in bright, swirling white-blue lights. The circular platform beneath her feet glowed to pure white briefly, and then the world around her changed. One moment she was surrounded by tan-colored stone walls, and the next, it was cold, grey metal, held together with bolts and faith.

She found herself standing on a long oval table, with eight people sitting around it - four on each side. Before she had a chance to speak, however, her attention was called behind her.

"Welcome to the future, Sunni."

She spun and glanced up, spotting a large projection of Vin's head above her. He was blue, but very solid, if not for the blocks of missing space. Those spaces disappeared and reappeared in new places with the seconds that passed. Random cubic holes, probably due to an incomplete matrix, she concluded.

"Vin!" she gasped, shocked. "Well, what do you know! I never expected to see _you_ again."

"Yeah, I never expected to last this long," he agreed, smirking. "I even had to change my programming to make it this far - make me more like a virus. You wouldn't believe -"

He was interrupted with a yell from a middle-aged, heavy-set woman with pink hair, sporting a few white streaks.

"Rika!"

_Rika?_ Sunni repeated in her head, glancing at the woman. The wrinkles visible on her face tattered what was once a lovely face, her tired eyes a rich blue.

"Ah, but I forget my manners," Vin went on. "Sunni, might I introduce your mother, Sanya."

She rose a brow. "My mother's name is _Keira_, Vin," she corrected.

She could see herself in Sanya's face, in her hair, in the matching coloring of her eye with Sanya's pair. It left her unsettled. That woman willingly sent her daughter into the past, at age nine no less, to be an assassin. Granted, she wouldn't be here now if not for Sanya's unmortherly conduct, but that didn't mean she owed the older woman anything.

"Yes, well," he agreed, "anyway, this is Sanya. She's the one who -"

"Sent me away," Sunni finished, brutally.

"You can't blame her for that," Vin defended. "It was the only way. And you _chose_ to come back here."

"What do you want me to say to that?" she wondered. "We all agreed that this was the best way. And I'm not about to give up now."

"I'm not disagreeing. . .but it's just going to get harder from here on."

She smirked, confidence radiating from every facet of her. "I can handle it," she vowed.

"I just wanted to make sure, about you," he replied, smiling. "A thousand years is a long time to wait, think, and develop doubts." His projection became smaller, until it included his entire body (still with a few holes missing) and stood next to her. "Now, let me introduce you to everyone. This is Rika - though she goes by Sunni these days," he greeted everyone. "Sunni, meet Sanya, Cheko, Stall, Rikah, Joseid, Tules, Milla and Desmond."

As he gestured them, Sunni took stock. Sanya was wearing rags in various shades of brown, and at the moment, she was the only one standing, her wide eyes still on Sunni.

Cheko was older-looking, with loose, long blonde hair and a light poncho hanging over his shoulders. He watched Sunni with narrowed, disbelieving grey eyes, wrinkled at the corners.

Stall's face was halfway hidden behind thick black goggles, his hair stood on end, and he was smirking, as though amused by the situation. He was dressed the fanciest of them all, with shoulder pads, vest, and belt holding dual pistols of a design she didn't recognize.

Rikah and Joseid looked like brothers, with Joseid the taller of the two. They were both dark-skinned with black eyes. Joseid's hair was in thick corn rows, falling below his shoulders, while Rikah was bald. They both wore yellow sleeveless tops and greens pants with shoulder pads.

Tules' face was hidden under a wide-brimmed hat, his ears outstretching its reach only just. She could see he was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt with a brown vest open on top of it, but no more.

Milla looked older than Sanya, though she kept her brunette hair without a strand of defiance. Her clothes were tattered, an orange top, brown off-center skirt and yellow pants beneath.

Desmond was the youngest by far, skinny, and short. He wore thick glasses, his brown hair slicked back, his clothes almost too big for him. She guessed he was a techie, judging by the amount of tiny lights on the metal wristband he wore.

Vin went on, "Along with me, we run this joint, the eight of us. The revolution is nothing without us - and now, you -"

"Now wait a second!" Cheko snapped, rising. "This girl appeared out of nowhere and we're supposed to just trust her?"

Much more calmly, Tules added, "I second that. We know nothing about her."

"Whoa, whoa, down boys," Sunni chuckled. "I hope you're not expecting me to argue with you. No, I'm afraid you old windbags can stuff it." She had her own agenda, after all. "I'm doing this on my own - without you."

"Wait, wait," Vin cautioned. "You can't do this alone. You only just got here - you don't know the situation!"

"I didn't spend the last five years of my life being trained by six elite teachers just to be told what I _can't_ do, Vin," she snapped.

"At least let me help you," he half-begged as she jumped off the table.

She sighed. "Alright, fine. What do you have to offer?"

"N-now hang o-on," Desmond said, coming to stand in front of her. "Y-you're b-being awfully arro-rogant," he pointed out.

"I have reason to be confident," she promised him.

"But n-not reason to be s-so resentful," he shot back smartly.

"That's beside the point," Vin threw in. "Follow Desmond, Sunni. He'll lead you to the tech room. Something special is waiting for you there."

She was intrigued now, giving Desmond an expectant look. Shaky and timid, he gestured the way to go and started walking. She kept up, a little annoyed at his height. He may be skinny, but he was tall, and Sunni was short. She barely reached his armpit.

"S-so you're from th-the past?" he wondered as he led.

"Both. Were you there when I was sent back?" she wondered.

He paused and pointed. Following the direction, she saw that he was pointing at a large vertical circle hooked up to so many wires she could hardly believe it hadn't short-circuited.

"It w-was j-just a few min-minutes ago," he answered. "Y-you went through th-that."

"Oh." She tilted her head at it, trying to remember, but while she had a few memories in this place, none of them involved that thing. A moment later she realized he was staring at her, so she stared back. "What?"

He looked startled. "N-nothing. I was j-just thinking, y-you still look the sa-same."

Her face twisted in half a grimace. "You're not the first to tell me that."

He cleared his throat. "It's th-this way." He went back to leading, so she followed.

"Can you tell me what this thing is?"

He shook his head. "Vin wan-wanted to su-surprise you."

That was odd, for Vin. But then, a thousand years is a long time to change. It was good to think that his paranoia had calmed with time, instead of increasing.

They went through a yawning doorway, more than twice the height of Desmond. On the other side was a tech room, filled with gadgets, wires, tools, and screens - some blank, some flickering, a scant few replaying recordings.

"Th-this is what he w-wanted you to have," Desmond said at last, picking something off a table. He turned around and held them out to her.

They were metal tubes at first glance, though once she turned them around and got a good look, it was obvious they were metal bracers. Both had what looked to be a glass tube, glowing bright blue, and a part of her responded to it. It was Light Eco, without a doubt, packed into these braces.

One in particular also had a screen of its own, adorned with six green buttons; three above and below.

Vin's voice returned, a small light projecting his head in a corner of the room. "I call them V.I.N.D. Virtual information and navigation device."

She smirked. "Clever."

"It can hold recordings, both visual and audio," he went on, "up to forty terabytes. It can also send and receive transmissions as long as there's working equipment nearby. It has a four-meter sensor in all directions - everywhere you go, it compiles 3-dimensional data of the area around it. It can also download and upload data with adaptable ports to every kind I know of. And last but not least, it has a Vin program of its own, able to offer advice whenever you ask. With sufficient equipment, you could program it to send transmissions directly here."

"And the Light Eco?"

"Stores and holds it. You can use it at any time - technically _anyone _who can use Light Eco can use it at any time. Oh, and be sparing with it. It took almost seventy years to gather that much."

She had already analyzed the amount within it, and from her experience, it would allow a transformation lasting almost fifteen minutes, as long as she didn't use any particular Eco powers to drain it quicker. That was fine, considering she was already "fully stocked" on Light Eco as it was.

Now smirking, she put them on and glanced up. "Tell me how the buttons work."

Vin smirked right back. "Desmond can go into detail with it. I'll be compiling data for V.I.N.D."

Clearing his throat, Desmond stepped closer, holding up her left arm. He pointed at the buttons as he explained what they did, and Sunni was pleased (and not a little impressed) to hear how steady his voice was. Clearly technology was his cure. She had a feeling he enjoyed tinkering very much, second only to explaining devices to others.

Not only did the bracers have six buttons, but the screen also had a "touch" option she could disable or enable with a spoken command. In fact, most of the programs had an optional spoken command - she needed only to program them in.

Vin had really thought of everything this time around. She felt more confident than ever.


	13. You, There!

**Disclaimer:** _Jak_ is owned by _Naughty Dog._ I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

_**Jak5: Strange Existence**_

_Thirteen: You, There! _

* * *

Sunni didn't stick around much longer after she put on her new bracers. Flipping the jetboard off her back, she skated her way out, following a map that was already completed in the left bracer. Damn, but Vin was a _genius_. She was infinitely glad he had 'survived' so long.

Sanya had tried to stop her, calling out to her "daughter", but Sunni just frowned at her and angled the jetboard to take her around. She wasn't sure why she was so irritated at the woman, when she was so clearly torn up over her decision to send Sunni away and wanted nothing more than to reconnect. It was too bad for her, Sunni supposed; she had no desire to have _another_ mother.

Before she'd left, Vin had said one final thing: "I'll inform everyone of your presence, tell them you're one of us. There's traders and experts around you can talk to."

She kept that in mind as she went, grinding down a thick, swaying cord. Once outside, she found that the building they were housed in was almost rubble starting around halfway up. Only the supports remained, and only a few of them. Looking further out into the night (despite that it was day before she was teleported) she could see skeletal buildings everywhere of various heights, but all of them were clearly above ten stories tall.

Trusting in the V.I.N.D. to lead her back at any time, she took off, exploring. Looking at the screen told her that the main city, Veridia, was north/northwest from where she was. But the rumors were that Deise was nowhere in the city - no one knew exactly where he was. He hosted parties for the nobles, though he never showed. It was curious, for an emperor of his vanity, especially because posters, painting and sculptures everywhere declared his face.

Disapproving eyes watched her everywhere she went. It was unsettling, given how much the busts looked like Jak. Fifty-plus generations later and his genes still carried strong. His hair was long, below his shoulders and brushed back, not a strand out of place. A stout beard went across his cheeks, framing his mouth and chin. Both appeared white - yet he wasn't displaying a single wrinkle anywhere on that stern face. On the few posters that showed his shoulders, the robes he wore were immaculate and detailed, something straight out of an ancient portrait of a king.

She found herself hating him more. How _dare_ he carry Jak's face with that look, doing the despicable things he does. She was going to kill him _so hard._

Trying to put it out of her mind, she focused on exploring, keeping her senses open for disturbances. There were scant few people out, always hiding swiftly when she neared. Most of them traveled alone, a few going in pairs. She spotted only one child in the hours she spent on the jetboard, compiling the V.I.N.D. map data.

Laser fire broke out when she was just about ready to turn around and head back to the rebel base. Red lights flashed on rusty metal walls, and she followed them. Soon shouting was heard - someone was taunting the ones shooting, declaring how parentless they all were in joking tones.

She allowed herself a smirk. That's _exactly_ the kind of thing she would do. Whoever this person was, she had a feeling she would like him.

He came sprinting out to the wide metal street, barely dodging a few laser blasts. At once she took stock of his dark brown hair, his incredible height, the nice clothes he wore - jacket and fancy pants, in dark blues she guessed - and that he had a tail, his bare feet elongated. He was an Ott, like her.

When he turned towards her to continue his sprint, she was held in stun for a moment, still gliding along. He looked like Torn, down to the last detail - except that he had eyebrows, and no tattoos.

The shoulder of his jacket split open when a laser blast came a bit too close, and he began swearing at the soldiers who had come skidding around the corner after him.

"Motherless horse-faced faggots!" he yelled. "This is my best jacket!" Then he seemed to see her at last, and he began waving her to the side.

He wanted her to _hide?_

With a scoff, she put aside his startling countenance and pulled out her gun, aiming it. As she skid by him on her board, she shot several times, knocking all four of the armored men down. It was clear by how they staggered that they weren't used to being shot - they were used to _shooting_. Once she was close, she leapt from her board and began applying her hand-to-hand training.

Between flipping over one's head and kicking another, she noticing the Torn look-alike had turned around and come back to help her. In no time all four were dead, riddled with bullet holes. She was the only one who still used ammunition, it seemed; examining their weapons told her they ran on some kind of battery pack.

"Sooo," the man began, watching her as she continued taking stock of these new enemies. "Come here often?"

She rolled her eyes. "This is my first time here, if you must know." Glancing over her shoulder at him, she was again staggered by his height, made all the more imposing by the fact that she was crouched over the fallen. "And what are you doing here? You look like a noble, with those clothes. Why would the soldiers attack you?"

He waved his hand as if it was of no importance, "I had enough of the stuffy self-important dick-brains. I declared the emperor Deise a son of a whore and predicted his death. So, that makes me a traitor." He looked pleased with himself.

She shook her head. "That takes balls, I'll give you that." Standing, she dusted off her hands, glancing into the distance. She could faintly see lights in the far out in the night. Gesturing it with her chin, she said, "What's that?"

He looked that way. "A city. Unbran."

"You ran from there to here?"

"I ran from Veridia to here. Lost the soldiers a few times, picked up more later." He shrugged.

Now she looked at him. Even on her jetboard, it would take _days_ to get from here to Veridia. How long had he been on the run?

_Doesn't matter,_ she told herself. _You should take a look at that city. Maybe this guy can help with that._

Aloud, she said, "Feel like returning the favor?"

"What favor?" he challenged, a cunning in his eyes she didn't like.

"Saving your hide," she returned smartly.

"I could've handled it."

"Uh-huh."

He rolled his eyes. "I have combat training. I could've taken them out at any time."

Judging by his moves a minute ago, she had no doubt. Even so, her pride was about as large as his - neither of them would admit defeat.

"Whatever," she said. "You gonna help me or not?"

He glanced down her, then back up. "Depends. What do I get out of it?"

Her irritation was growing. "Oh, forget it." _I'll figure it out as I go. Torn taught me how to do that very well._ As she turned to leave, however, he reached out and caught her bracer.

"Wait a minute - giving up, that easily?" he snapped.

She glared at him. What was _he_ irritated for? "Excuse me?" she returned, pulling her arm free.

He gestured the soldiers. "After all _that_, you're just hanging in the towel? I got the impression you were stronger than that. Stubborn."

"I have no time for insufferable nobles," she shot back.

Now he looked annoyed, glaring back at her. "My name is Torn, girl."

"Woman," she corrected, then cocked her head. "Torn?" she echoed, surprised.

"Yeah, _Torn._ And before you laugh, I'm named after my ancestor."

She could believe it. "No doubt," she allowed. "You look just like him."

She must have appeased his vanity, she realized. Brushing his hair back, he smirked, closing his eyes in a half-sheepish look and replying, "Heh, I know."

She took the brief chance to turn around and climb up the side of a building, grabbing her jetboard as she went. By the time it would occur to him that she shouldn't know what his ancestor looked like, she was already atop the building, looking at the city. From here, she could see the way to Unbran, could find a good route. She crouched at the edge, leaning on her arms.

From below she heard Torn say aloud, "Wait, how do you know - woman? Where the. . ?"

It seemed like there was a wasteland between here and there, telling her that this place was part of a city that had fallen. The entire planet wasn't covered in metal - just the cities themselves. She wondered how much of the world was desert. It looked sad to her.

_A thousand years killed the entire planet,_ she thought, depressed by the image it conjured.

Torn found her. She heard him climbing up long before he reached the top - if he was going to follow her, she was going to have to teach him how to be silent. The majority of her training, and the majority of her plans, centered on stealth.

"Hey, woman, how do you. . ." He trailed off.

She glanced over her shoulder to see him eying her, from her lengthy hair to her back to her hips to her tail. With a pained look at the heavens, she said, "Don't stare at me like that."

"Huh?" He glanced up at her, then seemed to shake himself. "Right, whatever." He came to crouch beside her, looking at the city. "You're thinking of going there?"

"I have a very important mission to complete," she told him, wondering how much she could trust him with. It was idiotic to consider him a spy or double-agent; no one could've known she'd be here, now. The attack wasn't a fake, she was sure of it. But that didn't make this man trustworthy, especially given the way he kept distracting himself by staring at her.

"In Unbran?" he checked, raising a brow.

"In Veridia, or wherever he is," she corrected.

He graced her with a shocked look. "You're talking about killing Deise, aren't you?"

Gauging his reaction carefully, she replied, "Should that matter to you? You're a traitor."

"It matters," he said, serious. "You'd get killed, little woman. Deise is _not_ reachable. Short of blowing up his ship with nukes, you can't touch him."

"My name is Sunni, with an 'i'," she snapped. "Now what is this about a ship? Is he out in the ocean?"

"Airship," he corrected. "But it doesn't matter. You'd never reach him - you'd die in the attempt."

"Don't underestimate me," she ground out. "I was taught by your ancestor."

His eyes widened. "Impossible." But she could see he was on the verge of believing her.

Glancing around, she tried to make up her mind. To tell him, or not to tell him? In the end, she decided it would be better to have his help. If she could recruit him with the truth, then she'd tell him the truth. Grabbing the split in his jacket, she pulled him closer, leaning in.

"Look, I don't have the time to tell you everything. Suffice to say I'm not all I appear to be. Among others, your ancestor Torn, his wife Ashelin, and Deise's ancestors Jak and Keira taught me in preparation for today. I'm from the past, a thousand years ago. I've lived the past five years just to kill Deise and end his reign."

She took a breath before going on. "I can take you to the rebel base, but I can't promise they won't kill you. On the other hand, you can help me scout around Unbran." She tried to make him understand the importance of this mission with her eyes.

After a moment, he leaned in closer and kissed her before she could jerk away. Shocked, she threw herself back, getting to her feet.

"What the hell was that?" she snapped.

He was laughing. As he stood, he said, "I like you. . .Sunni," grinning. "Come on, I'll take you into the city." He shed his jacket, dropping it where he was. Underneath he wore a plain black sleeveless shirt with laces across a split in the neck.

When she didn't move, only glaring, he glanced back at her.

"I'm serious," he said, gesturing the path to the city. "You coming?"

Hardening her gaze, she stepped closer. "If you ever kiss me again, I'll tear off your lips," she threatened.

He smirked. "I'll keep it in mind." Then he jumped.

She was right behind him. They both took the fall very well for a three-story jump. In fact, she was more impressed that he hadn't hurt himself than anything. However, she was annoyed to find he was just walking.

"Does the word 'urgency' mean anything to you?" she hissed.

"Tiring yourself out won't help anything," he countered.

She pulled out her jetboard, showing it. "I have this."

"And I don't," he pointed out. "Unless the both of us can fit on that-" he looked pleased with the idea "-you're going to have to match pace with your guide."

She had the urge to pout. Still, she just glared ahead and put the board away. "So why did you take off the jacket?"

"It's a dead giveaway," he explained. "We need to find rags and something yellow if we intend to remain anonymous."

"What does that mean?" she asked. "Something _yellow?_"

"All servants and commoners wear yellow - it's like a brand." That explains why she didn't see any yellow on him, then. "Nobles wear blues, violets, gold and reds. Fancy servants wear greens and sometimes orange."

"Weird," she murmured, thinking back. Almost everyone in the rebel city had been wearing yellow. It made sense all at once. For a moment she wondered why they would choose to wear the color if it was a mark of servitude and poverty, and then it occurred to her that most fabric would likely be yellow by default. It would be unbelievably difficult to get their hands on other colors.

Suddenly Tules' blue shirt seemed very extravagant, as well as her own blue and brown leathers.

"So you believe my story?" she checked, still wary of him.

He gave a nod. "I've heard of stranger things."

"Like what?"

Now he glanced at her, and the look in his eyes startled her; it was as though it pained him to even think about it. When he looked away again, he said, "The rumors go that Deise usurped the throne from his parents, enslaving them both. They're supposed to be. . .ghouls or something at this point. He keeps them around to frighten would-be mutineers and upstarters."

"How would they have become ghouls?"

"No one knows. The leading theory is that Dark Eco had something to do with it." A muscle in his jaw ticked as he said this.

She looked ahead. "So I take it you're not fond of Eco."

"Eco is useful," he allowed, "but not the Dark kind. And especially not at Deise's hands."

She glanced at her bracers. "Then I suppose I should warn you ahead of time. . ." she started. She thought she saw him tense beside her, as if anticipating an attack. That surprised her - rather than _her_ believing him to be a trap, he though _she_ was?

Paranoia was contagious around here.

"I can use Light Eco."

He stopped dead.

Halting along with him, she eyed him with caution.

"You can use Light Eco," he echoed, his eyes showing disbelief.

She paused a moment before replying, "Yes."

"I call bullshit," he ground out, stepping back. He looked her up and down, different from before - now his gaze was apprehensive, as if she were a coiled snake about to strike. "No one uses Light Eco. It's. . ._extinct._ As far as Eco goes."

She rose a brow in skepticism. "And who told you that? _Deise,_ perhaps?"

A moment of cunning went through his gaze, which alone was something she recalled Old Torn doing a lot. Whenever he was putting together a plan, he would get that look.

It might just be coincidence that this man had it as well, but even the thought that it was genetic shook her. How coincidental would it be for both Jak and Torn to have descendants who looked _exactly_ like them alive at the same time, a thousand years after their deaths?

In a word: extremely.

He said, "Researchers. Archaeologists. Experts. Those sorts."

It took her a moment to realize he'd answered her question. And then she said, "And who pays them for their careers, Torn?" Good lord it was odd calling him that.

His eyes narrowed. "This. . ." he gestured her, "this story of yours and your claim to use Light Eco. . .it can't be true. Not now. Not in this world."

It seemed that talking about Eco brought him back down to the stark reality - a rare thing, that, if his personality was as humorous as she assumed. A few moments before he'd been almost _jovial,_ stealing kisses and suggesting things that would result in their bodies meshed together. Now he was wholly serious, devoid of any humor.

"This is where I demonstrate," she murmured to herself. Pulling on the proverbial strings inside her, she brought out the font of Eco within her. At once serenity infused her, drawing her to close her eyes. She stood up straight, clasped her hands behind her back, and for a single second, merely enjoyed the inner peace that suffused her.

Then she broke the ties, shoving it back down. The transformation had lasted two seconds at most; best to avoid using that trick at birthday parties. She only had a limited stock, so far with no hope of recovering more.

When she opened her eyes again, Torn's had gone wide. It was no longer simple _disbelief _he was portraying, but downright incredulity. He looked like he didn't trust his eyes.

"Believe me now?" she half-teased, half-demanded.

After a moment, the corner of his mouth raised in a smirk.

* * *

**AN:** Wow, been a while, hasn't it? I'm still working on this story, I promise, it's just kinda tough. And recently I went back and read the whole story again. Wow again. If my writing skill hasn't improved dramatically since I began this fic. . . just wow. I want to go back and rewrite it.

For some reference, I imagine Sunni at being around 4'11". Torn at 6'2", maybe. Pretty huge difference. That's like my grandmother compared to my boyfriend. I reiterate: h_uge_ difference.

I also have a great many pics of Sunni at my deviantART gallery. Go to my bio and then my Dragonslover1 devART page and look in the gallery titled 'Anthros' to find many of Sunni. I even have a few of New Torn and Deise.

Next chapter is kicking my ass, so it may be a while. . .just content yourselves with the knowledge that I haven't given up. I'm just hitting a stumbling block with how to progress the story.


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